<—7--__- 



SDBHNKUB 



REY. HENRY MARTYN, B. D. 



LATE FELLOW OF ST. JOHN S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND CHAPLAIN 
TO TUE HONORABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 



BY JOHN SARGENT, Jun. 



And hast borne, and hast patience, and for ray name's sake hast 
labored, and hast not fainted. ...Rev. ii, S. 



©econu American; ffisition* 



BOSTON: 

FUBLISHEU BI SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG, 
AND CROCKER & BREWSTER, 

No. 50, Cornhill. 
1820. 



^ »•'. 

*.„. 






'. ■ & 






PREFACE. 



Before the reader proceeds to the perusal of the 
•• '"'II owing Memoir, it may be proper to inform him — - 
hat the first and second parts of it hare been chiefly 
selected from various Journals, which Mr. Martyn 
ivas in the habit of keeping, for his own private 
jse, and which, beginning with the year 1803, com- 
prehend a period of eight years. The third part 
is extracted from an account which he drew up of 
his visit to Shiraz in Persia; in which some occa- 
sional observations on the state of his own mind and 
feelings are interspersed. It is termed a Narrative 
by Mr. Martyn; and had his life been spared, it 
was probably his intention to have enlarged it, for 
the use of the public, or perhaps to have commu- 
nicated it, nearly in its original shape, to his inti- 
mate friends. From the style and manner of it, at 
least, it may be presumed not to have been exclu- 
sively intended (as the Journals above-mentioned 
evidently were,) for his own recollection and bene- 
fit — The greater part of these papers were upon 



IV PREFACE; 

the point of being destroyed by the writer, upon 
his undertaking the voyage to Persia; but, happily, 
he was prevailed upon, by the Rev. D. Corrie, to 
confide them under a seal to his care, and by him 
they were transmitted from India, to the Rev. C. 
Simeon, and J. Thornton, Esq. Mr. Martyn's exec- 
utors, in the year 1814. The Narrative, which 
was sent, by Mr. Morier, from Constantinople, came 
into their hands in the following year. Such are the 
materials from which I have compiled the present 
Memoir, — throughout the whole of which I have 
endeavored, as much as possible, to let Mr. Martyn 
speak for himself, and thus exhibit a genuine pic- 
ture of his own mind. 

In making a selection from a mass of such Valu- 
es 

able matter, it has been my anxious wish and sin- 
cere prayer, that it might prove subservient to the 
interests of true religion. A principal object with 
me has been to render it beneficial to those disin- 
terested Ministers of the Gospel, who, "with the 
Bible in their hand, and their Savior in their 
hearts," devote themselves to the "great cause" in 
which Mr. Martyn lived and died; and, truly, if the 
example here delineated should excite any of those 
servants of Christ to similar exertion, or if it should 
animate and encourage them, amidst the multiplied 
difficulties of their arduous course, my labor will 
receive an eminent and abundant recompence. 

JOHN SARGENT, Jin. 

Graf ham, July 7, 1819. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 



PAGE. 

Early life of Mr. Marty n 12—19 

His successful Academical course and first serious "im- 
pressions £0—30 

He visits Cornwall and returns to Cambridge, when he 

becomes entirely devoted to the service of Christ . . 31 — 36 
Is admitted to a fellowship, and gains some prizes in 

the University 37 

His tour through Wales to Cornwall 37 — 40 

Returns to Cambridge, and resolves to preach the 

Gospel to the Heathen as a Missionary 40 — 43 

The state of his mind between the period of deter- 
mining to become a Missionary and his ordination ' 43—65 
Is appointed to the curacies of Trinity Church in Cam- 
bridge and Lolworth 67 — 69 

His difficulties and discouragements on first exercising 

his ministry 69 

Executes the office of Public Examiner in St. John's . 70 

Reviews his life 71,72 

Visits London respecting a Chaplainship to the East 

India Company, in consequence of pecuniary losses 73,74 
*1 



IV 



CONTENTS. 



Returns to Cambridge — His diligence in the ministry— 
His supreme regard to personal religion — His feelings 
when calumniated and ridiculed and dehorted from 
his Missionary designs — His distress of mind after 

metaphysical inquiries 75 — 84 

Visits Cornwall as it appeared for the last time . . . 85—88 

His grief on leaving Cornwall 89,90 

His journey from Cornwall to Cambridge 91 — 93 

His letter to his youngest sister 94—96 

His great happiness and holy sensibility in the work of 

the ministry 96 — 99 

His joy on the Sabbath ' 100 

Chosen again examiner at St. John's 101 

His prospects and retrospect 102 

Ordained Priest 103 

His sorrow and support at leaving Cambridge . . . 104 — 106 
Arrives in London — His occupations — trials — consola- 
tions 107— 109 

A record of his feelings at this season 110 — 115 

Leaves London for Portsmouth — sails from thence — 

arrives at Falmouth 115 — 120 

His mixed emotions at unexpectedly visiting Cornwall 

— his departure from Falmouth 120 — 124 

His acute mental misery — His arrival at Cork, and joy- 
ful state of mind there — His ministry on board the 

ship 125—128 

He leaves Cork — A storm— Mr. Martyn's sensations 129—131 
Journal of his voyage after the subsiding of the storm 

tilt his arrival at Madeira 132 — 140 

Extracts of letters from Funchal . 141 

Sailed from Funchal for the Cape of Good Hope, 
after hearing that the army on board the fleet was 
destined to capture it— Mr. Martyn's anxiety for 
the spiritual welfare of the soldiers — His provi- 
dential escape in sailing to St. Salvador .... 142 — 145 



\ description of St. Salvador and of the events which 
happened there 145—157 

He leaves St. Salvador for the Cape— The army 
lands— Mr. Martyn visits the field of battle— The 
enemy surrenders— Mr. Martyn's reflection's . . 157—166 



contWts. vu 

His journal from the time of the capture of the Cape 

till that of his leaving it 166— 171 

He is opposed in his ministry . 172 

The death of a devout soldier 173 

Mr. Martyn's sentiments on approaching India . . 174,175 

Ceylon discovered - • *76 

Farewell sermon to the ship's company— India first 

seen i 176,177 

Mr. Martyn's journal daring his stay at Madras . . 177— 179 
Sails from Madras— Passes Juggernaut-Incurs danger 
from a hurricane— And another still greater from a 

■sand-bank— He reaches Calcutta— His reflections 180—133 



PART If. 



Prayer of Christians in Calcutta answered in the ar- 
rival of Mr. Martyn — Having passed Dr. Buchanan 
in the Hoogley, he is affectionately received by Mr. 
Brown at Aldeen— His illness there 184—186 

Mr. Martyn's vigilance as a Missionary — He will not 

be detained at Calcutta 187 

The scenes he witnessed near Aldeen 18S 

He reads Hindoostanee incessantly— Preaches at Cal- 
cutta — The treatment he receives from some of 
his intemperate brother- chaplains — The wise con- 
duct pursued by another chaplain 189 — 191 

He chides himself for over-zealous, and (as it prov- 
ed) mistaken censures of the government . . . 192 

Receives his appointment at Dinapore — Leaves Cal- 
cutta for his station 192 — 195 

The journal of his voyage up the Hoogley and Ganges 196 — 219 

Reaches Dinapore — His plans — discouragements — 

labors , 220,221 



Ylll CONTENTS. 

A trying conversation with a European, and tri- 
umphant reflections after it 222 

Discomfort in the society at Dinapore — Joy at hearing 

from Christian friends 223 

Jealousy of natives — ignorance of Moonshee and Pundit 224 

Commencement of ministry — Interference of his flock 
at Dinapore — Expectation of an attack from the 

press at Calcutta 225,2:6 

Meditation at the beginning of the year 1807 . . 227 

Translation of parables into Hindoostanee in pro- 
gress — That of part of the Church service into the 
same language commenced ........ 223 

Jealousy and fears of the Europeans respecting Mr. 

Martyn 229 

Disputes with Moonshee and Pundit 230—232 

Arrival of Mr. Corrie at Dinapore 232 

•The effects of Mr. Martyn's ministry — His opinion 
respecting the conversion of the Hindoos, and feel- 
ings as to their condition — Resolves to interfere to 

prevent acts of oppression 233 — 235 

His journey to Buxar to marry a couple, with a pre- 
vious account of the state of his mind 236 — 259 

Returns to Dinapore — Embarrassment respecting the 

schools 239,240 

Translation of Prayer-Books and Parables complet- 
ed— Public service in Hindoostanee ...... 241 

Mr. Martyn's ministerial exertions 242 — 244 

His success with some of the officers at Dinapore . 244 

Mr. Martyn is restrained by prudence from preach- 
ing in Patna — Corresponds with Mr. Corrie — Pain- 
ed on account of Mr. Corrie's iliness — Writes him 
a letter of advice respecting his health — His own 
health declines — but he does not desist from his 

work 245—248 

Ignorance of a Brahmin and a Ranee 249 

Further disputes with Moonshee and Pundit . . . 250 — 254 
Mr. Martyn summoned to Monghir — The state of 
his mind at this time — His voyage down the Gan- 
ges, and return to Dinapore 255—261 

Applications from a Ranee to Mr. Martyn .... 262 



CONTENTS, IX 

Difficulties respecting the introduction of books into 
the schools — Other causes of disquietude— His faith 

and patience and prudence 262,263 

Mr. Martyn draws up arguments against the Koran, 
and is called to decide a question of great impor- 
tance respecting Baptism 264,265 

Mr. Martyn engaged by Mr. Brown in translating the 

New Testament into Hindoosfanee — His happiness 

and perseverance in the work of translation . . 266,267 

Afflictive dispensation in the death of his eldest sister 

— His exquisite suffering and entire resignation and 

undeviating diligence in his work 268 — 271 

Sermon on the Mount introduced into the schools . 272- 

Mr. Martyn's wise and waiting spirit — His love for 

the Heathen — His joy in retirement 273,274 

Mr. Martyn is tried by a severe disappointment . . 275 

Mirza and Sabat arrive at Dinapore to assist in the 
work of translation — Mr. Martyn's hopes and fears 

and grief respecting Sabat . 276 — 279 

Reflection on the commencement of the year 1808 280 

Mr. Martyn's pain at losing the society of Christian 

friends at Dinapore . 281 

His anxiety and ineffectual endeavor to benefit the 

native Christians 282 

Public worship in Mr. Martyn's house 283 

The version of the New Testament into Hindoostanee 

completed 285 

Correspondence between Mr. Martyn and Messrs. 
Corrie and Brown until Mr. Martyn's removal to 

Cawnpore 286 — 310 

The danger Mr. Martyn incurred in travelling to 
Cawnpore — A description of it, and of his arrival 

at his new station 310 — 312 

Mr. Martyn's labor at Cawnpore — His love of philology 313 314 

He is summoned to Pretabjush 315 

Mr. Martyn's deep affliction at the loss of his young- 
est sister 316,317 

Me preaches to the mendicants 318,319 

Reflections on entering the year 1809 — Mr. Martyn 

continues to preach to the mendicants .... 320,321 



X CONTENTS. 

Is attacked by a severe pain in the chest — He is 

obliged to remit his ministerial duty 322,323 

Mr. Corrie arrives at Cawnpore — Mr. Brown's alarm 
respecting Mr. Martyn's health— His affectionate 
expression of his apprehensions 324 

Mr. Martyn's health sinks so much, that he resolves 
to remove from Cawnpore — He determines to visit 
Arabia and Persia 325,326 

Mr. Brown's letter on this determination being com- 
municated to him 327 

Mr. Martyn leaves Cawnpore, and arrives at Aldecn 
and Calcutta, from whence in three months he 
departs 329—335 



PART III. 



The occurrences which transpired between Mr. Mar- 
tyn's leaving India and his arrival at Shiraz . . 334 — 355 

He commences a translation of the New Testament 
into Persian, and has many private discussions with 
the Mahometans 356 — 370 

A public controversy between Mr. Martyn and the 

professor of Mahometan law 371—376 

Mirza Ibraheem, the preceptor of all the Mooliahs, 
writes a treatise in defence of Mahometanism — Mr. 
Martyn replies to it 376—379 

Mr. Martyn exposed to some personal dagger and 

much contempt 380—382 

An interview with a Soofie sage 382 — 384 

Mr. Martyn attends the levee of the Prime Minister, 

when he is attacked by a Moollah 3S5,386 

Candor of Mirza Ibraheem 386 

Mr. Martyn visits Persepolis 387—390 



CONTENTS. XI 

His account of the fast of Ramazan 391—398 

Mr. Martyn commences a version of the Psalms into 

Persian 399 

The events of the last month of the year 1811 . . . 399—404 
Mr. Martyn's reflection on the commencement of the 

last year of his life 404 

The principal events of the early part of the year 1812 405 — 419 
Mr. Martyn's bold confession of faith before numerous 

Moollahs 420—422 

The Journal of the remainder of his abode at Shiraz 423,424 
Mr. Martyn leaves Shiraz for Tebriz, and arrives at 

the King's camp 425 — 434 

Mr. Martyn's intrepid conduct before the Prime Min- 
ister of Persia — His consolations under contemptuous 

treatment 435 — 437 

He proceeds to Tebriz 438 — 447 

After an illness of nearly two months, Mr. Martyn 
leaves Tebriz for Constantinople — He is hospitably 
received at an Armenian monastery, and after much 
suffering, under which he possesses his soul in peace 

and patience, he expires at Tocat 448 — 479 

Mr. Martyn's character 479 et seq. 



MEMOIR, 



PART I. 



It has been well observed, by one* who took 
a profound view of human nature, that there are 
three very different orbits in which great men 
move and shine, and that each sphere of greatness 
has its respective admirers. There are those who 
as heroes, fill the world with their exploits; they 
are greeted by the acclamations of the multitude; 
they are ennobled whilst living, and their names 
descend with lustre to posterity. Others there are 
who, by the brilliancy of their imagination, or the 
vigor of their intellect, attain to honor of a 
purer and a higher kind; the fame of these is 
confined to a more select number; all have not a 
discriminating sense of their merit. A third de~ 

* Pascal. 



14 MEMOIR OF 

scription there is, distinct from both the former, 
and far more exalted than either; whose excel- 
lence consists in a renunciation of themselves, and 
a compassionate love for mankind. In this order 
the Savior of the world was pleased to appear, 
and those persons obtain the highest rank in it, 
who, by his grace, are enabled most closely to 
imitate his example. 

Henry Martyn, the subject of this Memoir, 
was born at Truro, in the county of Cornwall, on 
the 18th of February, 1781, and appears, with 
his family in general, to have inherited a weak 
constitution; as of many children, four only, two 
sons and two daughters, survived their father, Mr. 
John Martyn, and all of them, within a short 
period, followed him to the grave. Of these 
Henry was the third. His father was originally 
in a very humble situation of life, having been a 
laborer in the mines near Gwenap, the place of 
his nativity. With no education but such as a 
country reading school afforded, he was compelled, 
for his daily support, to engage in an employment, 
which, dreary and unhealthy as it was, offered 
•some advantages, of which he most meritoriously 
availed himself. The miners, it seems, are in the 
habit of working and resting alternately every 
four hours; and the periods of relaxation from 
manual labor, they frequently devote to mental 
improvement. In these intervals of cessation from 
toil, John Martyn acquired a complete knowledge 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 15 

of arithmetic, and some acquaintance also with 
mathematics; and no sooner had he gathered 
these valuable and substantial fruits of persevering' 
diligence, in a soil most unfriendly to their growth, 
than he was raised from a state of poverty and 
depression, to one of comparative ease and com- 
fort: admitted into the office of Mr. Daniel, 
a merchant at Truro, he lived there as chief 
clerk, piously and respectably enjoying considera- 
bly more than a competency. At the grammar 
school in this town, the master of which was the 
Rev. Cornelius Cardew, D. D. a gentleman of 
learning and talents, Henry was placed by his 
father in Midsummer 1788, being then between 
seven and eight years of age. Of his childhood 
previous to this period, little or nothing can be 
ascertained; but those who knew him, considered 
him a boy of promising abilities. 

Upon his first entering the school, Dr. Cardew 
observes "he did not fail to answer the expectations 
that had been formed of him; his proficiency in the 
classics exceeded that of most of his school-fellows; 
yet there were boys who made a more rapid pro- 
gress, not perhaps that their abilities were superior, 
but their application greater, for he was of a lively 
cheerful temper, and as I have been told by those 
who sat near him, appeared to be the idlest 
amongst them, and was frequently known to go 
up to his lesson with little or no preparation, as if 
he had learned it merely by intuition. 



16 MEMOIR OF 

In all schools there are boys, it is well known, 
who, from natural softness of spirit, inferiority in 
point of bodily strength, or an unusual thirst for 
Jiterary acquirements, become much secluded from 
the rest, and such boys are generally exposed to the 
ridicule and oppression of their associates. Henry 
Martyn, though not at that time eminently stu- 
dious, was one of this class; he seldom joined the 
other boys in their pastimes, in which he was not 
[ an adept, and he often suffered from the tyranny 
of those older or stronger than himself. 

"Little Harry Martyn," for by that name he 
usually went, says one of his earliest friends and 
companions, "was in a manner proverbial among 
his school- fellows for a peculiar tenderness and 
inoffensiveness of spirit, which exposed him to the 
ill offices of many overbearing boys; and as there 
was at times some peevishness in his manner 
when attacked, he was often unkindly treated. 
That he might receive assistance in his lessons he 
was placed near one of the upper boys, with whom 
he contracted a friendship which lasted through 
life, and whose imagination readily recals the 
position in which he used to sit, the thankful 
expression of his affectionate countenance, when 
he happened to be helped out of some difficulty, 
and a thousand little incidents of. his boyish days." 
— Besides assisting him in his exercises, his friend, 
it is added, "had often the happiness of rescuing 
him from the grasp of oppressors, and has never 



RET. HENRY MARTYX. 17 

seen more feeling gratitude than was shewn by 
him on those occasions." 

At this school, under the same excellent tuition, 
Henry remained till he was between fourteen 
and fifteen years of age; at which period he 
was induced to offer himself as a candidate for a 
vacant scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Ox- 
ford. Young as he was, he went there alone, 
without any interest in the University, and with 
only a single letter to one of the tutors: and, 
there, he acquitted himself so well, though strongly 
and abiy opposed, that in the opinion of some of 
the examiners, he ought to have been elected. 
How often is the hand of God seen in frustrating 
our fondest designs! Had success attended him, 
the whole circumstances of his after-life would 
have been varied; and however his temporal in- 
terests might have been promoted, his spiritual 
interests w T ould probably have sustained a propor- 
tionate loss. 

It was with sensations of this kind that he 
himself many years afterwards reverted to this 
disappointment. "In the autumn of 1795," he 
says, in an account prefixed to his private Journal 
of the year 1803, "my father, at the persuasion of 
many of his friends, sent me to Oxford, to be a 
candidate for the vacant scholarship at Corpus 
Christi; I entered at no college, but had rooms at 
Exeter College, by the interest of Mr. Cole the 

Sub-Rector. I passed the examination, I believe, 

# 2 



IS memoir or 

tolerably well; but was unsuccessful, having every 
reason to think the decision was impartial. Had 
I remained, and become a member of the Univer- 
sity at that time, as I should have done in case of 
success, the profligate acquaintance I had there, 
would have introduced me to a scene of debau- 
chery, in which I must in all probability, from my 
extreme youth, have sunk forever." 

After this repulse, Henry returned home, and 
continued to attend Dr. Cardew's school till June 
1797. That he had made no inconsiderable pro- 
gress, there, was evident from the very creditable 
examination he passed at Oxford: and, in the two 
years subsequent to this, he must have greatly 
augmented his fund of classical knowledge: but it 
seems not to have been till after he had com- 
menced his academical career, that his superiority 
of talent was fully discovered. The signal success 
of that friend who had been his guide and pro- 
tector at school, led him in the spring of this year 
to direct his views towards the University of 
Cambridge, which he probably preferred to that 
of Oxford, because he there hoped to profit by the 
advice and assistance to which he was already so 
much indebted. Whatever might be the cause of 
this preference, it certainly did not arise from any 
predilection for mathematics; for in the autumn 
hefore he went to Cambridge, instead of the study 
of Euclid and Algebra, he confesses that one part 
of the day was dedicated to his favorite employ- 



REV. HENRY MARTY N. 19 

ment of shooting, and the other to reading, for the 
most part, Travels, and Lord Chesterfield's Let- 
ters, — '"attributing to a want of taste for mathe- 
matics, what ought to have been ascribed to idle- 
ness, and having his mind in a roving, dissatisfied, 
restless condition, seeking his chief pleasure in 
reading, and human praise." 

His residence at St. John's College, where his 
name had been previously entered in the summer, 
commenced in the month of October 1797; and, 
it may tend to shew how little can be determined 
from first attempts, to relate that Henry Martyn 
began his mathematical pursuits by attempting to 
commit the propositions of Euclid to memory. 
The endeavor may be considered as a proof of 
the confidence he himself entertained of the reten- 
tive powers of his mind; but it did not supply an 
auspicious omen of future excellence. 

On his introduction to the University, happily 
for him, the friend of his "ooyish days" became 
the counsellor of his riper years: nor was this 
most important act of friendship either lost upon 
him at the time, or obliterated from his memory 
in after life. "During the first term,'? he has 
recorded in his Journal, "I was kept a good deal 
in idleness by some of my new acquaintances, but 
the kind attention of * # * was a principal means 
of my preservation from excess." That his time 
was far from being wholly misemployed, between 
October and Christmas, is evident from the place 



20 MEMOIR OF 

he obtained in the first class, at the public exam- 
ination of his college in December; a circumstance 
which, joined to the extreme desire he had to 
gratify his Father, encouraged and excited him to 
study with increased alacrity; and as the fruit of 
this application, at the next public examination in 
the summer he reached the second station in the 
first class; a point of elevation, which "flattered his 
pride not a little." 

The tenor of Henry Martyn's life during this 
and the succeeding year he passed at college, was 
to the eye of the world in the highest degree 
amiable and commendable. He was outwardly 
moral, with little exception was unwearied in 
application, and exhibited marks of no ordinary 
talent. But whatever may have been his external 
conduct, and whatever his capacity in literary 
pursuits, he seems to have been totally ignorant of 
spiritual things, and to have lived "without God in 
the world." The consideration, that God chiefly 
regards the motives of our actions, — a considera- 
tion so momentous, and so essential to the char- 
acter of a real christian, appears as yet never to 
have entered his mind: and even when it did, as 
was the case at this time, it rested there as a 
theoretic notion never to be reduced to practice. 
His own account of himself is very striking. 
Speaking of June 1799, he says, * * * (the friend 
alluded to before) attempted to persuade me that 
I ought to attend to reading, not for the praise of 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 21 

Mien, but for the glory of God. This seemed 
strange to me, but reasonable, I resolved, there- 
fore, to maintain this opinion thenceforth; but 
never designed, that I remember, that it should 
affect my conduct" What a decisive mark this of 
an unrenewed mind! — What an affecting proof 
that light may break in on the understanding, 
whilst there is not so much as the dawn of it on 
the heart! 

Providentially for Henry Martyn, he had not 
only the great blessing of possessing a religious 
friend at college, but the singular felicity likewise 
of having a sister in Cornwall, who was a chris- 
tian of a meek, heavenly, and affectionate spirit; 
to whom, as well as to the rest of his relations 
there, he paid a visit in the summer of the year 
1799, carrying with him no small degree of aca- 
demical honor, though not ail that he had fondly 
and ambitiously expected — for he had lost the 
prize for themes in his college, and was only 
second again in the first class at the public exami- 
nation, when he had hoped to have been first; — 
a "double disappointment," which, to use his own 
words, "nettled him to the quick." It may be 
well supposed, that to a sister, such as his, her 
brother's spiritual welfare would be a most serious 
and anxious concern: and that she often con- 
versed with him on the subject of religion, we 
have his own declaration. "I went home this 
summer, and was frequently addressed by my 



22 MEMOIR OF 

dear sister on the subject of religion; but the 
sound of the Gospel, conveyed in the admonition 
of a sister, was grating to my ears." The first 
result of her tender exhortations and earnest en- 
deavors was very discouraging: a violent con- 
flict took place in her brother's mind, between his 
convictions of the truth of what she urged and his 
love of the world; and, for the present, the latter 
prevailed: yet sisters, similarly circumstanced, may 
learn from this case not merely their duty, but 
from the final result, the success they may antici- 
pate from the faithful discharge of it. — "I think," 
he observes, when afterwards reviewing this period 
with a spirit truly broken and contrite, "I do not 
remember a time, in which the wickedness of my 
heart rose to a greater height, than during my 
stay ait home. The consummate selfishness and 
exquisite irritability of my mind were displayed 
in rage, malice, and envy, in pride and vain glory 
and contempt of all; in the harshest language to 
my sister, and even my father, if he happened to 
differ from my mind and will: O what an example 
of patience and mildness was he! I love to think 
of his excellent qualities, and it is frequently the 
anguish of my heart, that I ever could be base and 
wicked enough to pain him by the slightest neglect. 
O my God and Father, why is not my heart 
doubly agonized, at the remembrance of all my 
great transgressions against thee ever since I have 
known thee as such! I left my sister and father in 



REV, HENRY MARTYN. 2t3 

October, and him I saw no more. I promised my 
sister that I would read the Bible for myself, but 
on being settled in college, Newton engaged all 
my thoughts." 

At length however it pleased God to convince 
Henry by a most affecting visitation of his prov- 
idence, that there was a knowledge far more 
important to him than any human science; and 
that, whilst contemplating the heavens by the 
light of astronomy, he should devote himself to 
His service, who having made those heavens, did 
in his nature pass through them as his Mediator 
and Advocate. The sudden and heart-rending 
intelligence of the death of his father was the 
proximate, though doubtless not the efficient cause 
of his receiving these convictions. How poignant 
were his sufferings under this affliction, may be 
seen in the account he himself has left of it:— 
from whence it is evident, that it was not only a 
season of severe but of sanctified sorrow; a seed 
time of tears, promising that harvest of holiness, 
peace, and joy which succeeded it. 

"At the examination at Christmas 1799," he 
writes, "I was first, and the account of it pleased 
my father prodigiously, who I was told was in 
great health and spirits. What was then my con- 
sternation, when, in January, I received from my 
brother an account of his death! But while I 
mourned the loss of an earthly parent, the angels 
in heaven were rejoicing at my being so soon to 



24 MEMOIR OF 

find an heavenly one. As I had no taste at this 
time for my usual studies, I took up my Bible, 
thinking that the consideration of religion was 
rather suitable to this solemn time; nevertheless I 
often took up other books to engage my attention, 
and should have continued to do so, had not # * # 
advised me to make this time an occasion of 
serious reflection. I began with the Acts, as 
being the most amusing; and, whilst I was enter- 
tained with the narrative, I found myself insen- 
sibly led to inquire more attentively into the 
doctiine of the Apostles. It corresponded nearly 
enough, with the few notions I had received in my 
early youth. I believe on the first night after, I 
began to pray from a precomposed form, in which 
I thanked God, in general, for having sent Christ 
into the world. But though I prayed for pardon, 
I had little sense of my own sinfulness: neverthe- 
less I began to consider myself as a religious man. 
The first time I went to chapel, I saw, with some 
degree of surprise at my former inattention, that, 
in the Magnificat, there was a great degree of joy 
expressed at the coming of Christ, which I thought 
but reasonable. * * * had lent me Doddridge's 
Rise and Progress. The first part of which I 
could not bear to read, because it appeared to 
make religion consist too much in humiliation; 
and my proud and wicked heart would not bear to 
be brought down into the dust. And * * *, to 
whom I mentioned the gloom which I felt, after 



RBT. HENRY MARTYN. 25 

•reading the first part of Doddridge, reprobated it 
strongly. — Alas! did he think that we can go 
along the way that leadeth unto life, without 
entering in at 'the straight gate!' " 

It was not long after Henry had been called 
to endure this gracious though grievous chasten- 
ing from above, that the public exercises com- 
menced in the University; and although the great 
stimulus to exertion was removed by the loss of 
his father, whom it was his most anxious desire 
to please, he again devoted himself to his mathe- 
matical studies with unwearied diligence. That 
spiritual danger exists in an intense application of 
the mind to these studies, he was so deeply sensi- 
ble at a latter period of his life, as on a review of 
this particular time, most gratefully to acknowl- 
edge, that "the mercy of God prevented the ex- 
tinction of that spark of grace which his spirit had 
kindled." At the moment of his exposure to this 
peril he was less conscious of it; but we may per- 
ceive, from the following letter to his youngest 
sister, that he was not wholly devoid of circum- 
spection on this head. Having shortly, and with 
much simplicity, announced that his name stood 
first upon the list at the college examination, in 
the summer of the year 1300, he thus expresses 
himself: — "What a blessing it is for me, that I 
have such a sister as you, my dear * * % who have 
been so instrumental in keeping me in the right 
way. When I consider how little human assist- 
3 



26 MEMOIR OF 

ance you have had, and the great knowledge to 
which you have attained in the subject of religion, 
3 — especially observing the extreme ignorance of 
the most wise and learned of this world, I think 
this is itself a mark of the wonderful influence 
of the Holy Ghost, in the mind of well-disposed 
persons. It is certainly by the spirit alone that 
we can have the will, or power, or knowledge, or 
confidence to pray; and by Him alone we come 
unto the Father through Jesus Christ. 'Through 
Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the 
Father.' How I rejoiced to find that we disagreed 
cnly about words! I did not doubt, as you sup- 
pose, at all about that joy, which true believers 
feel. Can there be any one subject, any one 
source of cheerfulness and joy, at all to be com- 
pared with the heavenly serenity and comfort, 
which such a person must find, in holding com- 
munion with his God and Savior in prayer — in 
addressing God as his Father, and, more than all, 
in the transporting hope, of being preserved unto 
everlasting life, and of singing praxes to his Re- 
deemer when time shall be no more. O I do indeed 
feel this state of mind at times; but, at other 
times, I feel quite humbled at finding myself so 
cold and hard-hearted. That reluctance to prayer, 
that unwillingness to come unto Gcd, who is the 
fountain of all good, when reason and experience 
tell us, that with him only true pleasure is to be 
found, seem to be owing to Satanic influence. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 27 

Though I think my employment in life gives me 
peculiar advantages, in some respects, with regard 
to religious knowledge, yet with regard to having 
a practical sense of things on the mind, it is by far 
the worst of any. For the laborer, as he drives on 
his plough, and the weaver who works at his loom, 
may have their thoughts entirely disengaged from 
their work, and may think with advantage upon 
any religious subject. But the nature of our stud- 
ies requires such a deep abstraction of the mind 
from all things, as completely to render it incapable 
of any thing else during many hours of the day. — 
With respect to the dealings of the Almighty with 
me, you have heard in general the chief of my ac- 
count; as I am brought to a sense of things grad- 
ually, there is nothing peculiarly striking in it to 
particularize. After the death of our father you 
know I was extremely low spirited; and like, most 
other people, began to consider seriously, without 
any particular determination, that invisible world 
to which he was gone, and to which I must one day 
go. Yet still I read the Bible unenlightened; and 
said a prayer or two, rather through terror of a 
superior power, than from any other cause. Soon 
however I began to attend more diligently to the 
words of our Savior in the New Testament, and 
to devour them with delight: when the offers of 
mercy and forgiveness were made so freely, I sup- 
plicated to be made partaker of the covenant of 
grace, with eagerness and hope; and thanks be to 



28 MEMOIR OF 

the ever-blessed Trinity, for not leaving me with- 
out comfort. Throughout the whole, however, even 
when the light of divine truth was beginning to 
dawn on my mind, I was not under that great ter- 
ror of future punishment, which I now see plainly 
I had every reason to feel: I look back now upon 
that course of wickedness, which, like a gulph of 
destruction, yawned to swallow me up, with a 
trembling delight, mixed with shame at having 
lived so long in ignorance, and error, and blindness. 
I could say much more, my dear * * *, but I have 
no more room. I have only to express my acqui- 
escence in most of your opinions, and to join with 
you in gratitude to God, for his mercies to us. 
May he preserve you and me, and all of us to the 
day of the Lord!" 

How cheering to his sister must it have been 
at a moment of deep sorrow, to receive such a 
communication as this, which indicated a state of 
mind not thoroughly instructed indeed in the mys- 
tery of faith, but fully alive to the supreme im- 
portance of religion. How salutary to his own 
mind to have possessed so near a relation, to whom, 
he could thus freely open the workings of his 
heart! But the chief cause under God, of his 
stability at this season in those religious principles 
which, by divine grace he had adopted, was evi- 
dently that constant attendance which he now 
commenced on the ministry of the Rev. Mr. 
Simeon, at Trinity Church in Cambridge: under 



REV. HENRY BIARTYN. 29 

whose truly pastoral instructions, he himself de- 
clares that he "gradually acquired more knowledge 
in divine things." 

In the retrospect indeed which Henry took of 
this part of his life, he seems sometimes ready to 
suspect a want of growth, and almost a want of 
vitality in his religion: but though there may 
have been some ground for the former of these 
suspicions, there certainly was none, whatever his 
humility may have suggested, for the latter. — "I 
can only account," he says, "for my being stationa- 
ry so long, by the intenseness with which I pursued 
my studies, in which I was so absorbed, that the 
time I gave to them seemed not to be a portion of 
my existence, That in which I now 7 see I was 
lamentably deficient, was a humble and contrite 
spirit, in which I should have perceived more 
clearly the excellency of Christ. The eagerness 
too with which I looked forward to the approach- 
ing examination for degrees, too clearly betrayed a 
heart not yet dead to the world." 

That a public examination for a degree in the 
University must be a time of painful solicitude to 
those about to pass through it, is obvious — espe- 
cially when great expectations have been raised, and 
worldly prospects are likely to be seriously affected 
by the event. From Henry Martyn much was 
expected; and, had he failed altogether, his tempo- 
ral interests would have materially suffered. Nor 

was he naturally insensible to those perturba- 
#3 



30 MEMOIR OF 

tions which are apt to arise in a youthful and 
ambitious breast. It happened however (as he 
was frequently known to assert,) that upon enter- 
ing the Senate House, in which there was a larger 
than the usual proportion of able young men as his 
competitors, his mind was singularly composed and 
tranquillized, in the recollection of a sermon which 
he had heard not long before on the text — "Seek- 
est thou great things for thyself — seek them not.'' 
He thus became divested of that extreme anxiety 
about success, which by harassing his spirit, must 
have impeded the free exercise of his powers. 
His decided superiority in Mathematics therefore 
soon appeared — and the highest academical honor 
was adjudged him in January 1801, a period when 
he had not completed the twentieth year of his age. 
Nor is it any disparagement to that honor, or to 
those who conferred it on him, to record, that it 
was attended, in this instance, with that disappoint- 
ment and dissatisfaction to which all earthly bless- 
ings are subject. His description of his own 
feeling's on this occasion is remarkable: — "I ob- 
tained my highest wishes, but was surprised to find 
I had grasped a shadow." So impossible is it for 
distinctions, though awarded for successful exer- 
tions of the intellect, to fill and satisfy the mind, 
especially after it has "tasted the good word of 
God, and the powers of the world to come." So 
certain is it, that he who drinks of the water of the 
well of this life must thirst again, and that it is the 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 31 

water which springs up to everlasting life, which 
alone affords never-failing refreshment. 

Having thus attained that station of remarkable 
merit and eminence, upon which his eye from the 
first had been fixed, and for which he had toiled 
with such astonishing diligence, as to be designated 
in his college as "the man who had not lost an 
hour," and having received likewise the first of two 
prizes given annually to the best proficients in 
Mathematics, amongst those bachelors who have 
just taken their degree, — in the month of March, 
Henry again visited Cornwall, where, amidst the 
joyful greetings of all his friends, on account of his 
honorary rewards, bis youngest sister was alone 
dejected, not witnessing in him that progress in 
Christian knowledge which she had been fondly led 
to anticipate. Nor ought we to attribute this 
wholly to that ardency of affection, which might 
dispose her to indulge in sanguine and somewhat 
unreasonable expectations. 

Those who know what human nature is, even 
after it may have been renewed by the Spirit of 
God, will not deny that it is more than possible 
that his zeal may have somewhat relaxed in the 
bright sunshine of academical honor: and certain it 
is that his standard of duty, though superior to that 
of the world, was at this time far from reaching 
that degree of elevation which it afterwards 
attained. Who can wonder, then, that a person 
tremblingly alive to hi§ best interests, should be not 



MEMOIR OF 



wholly free from apprehension, and should be con- 
tinually urging on his conscience the solemn sanc- 
tions of the Gospel, entreating him to aim at noth- 
ing less than Christian perfection. 

Returning to Cambridge in the summer of this 
year, he past the season of vacation most profit- 
ably: constrained happily to be much alone, he 
employed his solitary hours in frequent commu- 
nion with his own heart, and with that gracious 
Lord who once blessed Isaac and Nathanael in 
their secret devotions, and who did not withhold a 
blessing from his: "God was pleased to bless the 
solitude and retirement I enjoyed this summeiy' 
he observes, "to my improvement; and not till 
then, had I ever experienced any real pleasure in 
religion. I was more convinced of sin than eyer, 
more earnest in fleeing to Jesus for refuge, and 
more desirous of the renewal of my nature. 

It was during this vacation also that an intimate 
acquaintance commenced, as much distinguished 
for a truly parental regard on the one hand, as it 
was for a grateful, reverential, and filial affection 
on the other. Having long listened with no small 
degree of pleasure and profit to Mr. Simeon as a 
preacher, Henry now began to enjoy the happi- 
ness of an admission to the most friendly and 
unreserved intercourse with him, and was in the 
habit of soliciting and receiving on all important oc- 
casions his counsel and encouragement. By Mr. 
Simeon's kindness it was, that he was now made 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 33 

known to several young men, with some of whom 
he formed that most enduring of all attachments, — 
a Christian friendship: and it was from his conversa- 
tion and example also, that he imbibed his first con- 
ceptions of the transcendent excellence of the 
Christian ministry: from which it was but a short 
step, to resolve upon devoting himself to that 
sacred calling — for till now he had an intention of 
applying to the law, "chiefly," he confesses, "because 
he could not consent to be poor for Christ's sake." 
The great advancement which he had made in 
genuine piety at this period, from intercourse with 
real Christians, and above all from secret commu- 
nion with his God, is discoverable in the following 
extracts from two letters — the first dated Septem- 
ber 15, 1801, and addressed to his earliest friend; 
— the second, written a few r days afterwards, to his 
youngest sister. "That you may be enabled to do 
the will of your heavenly Father shall be, you may 
be assured; my constant prayer at the throne of 
grace; and this, as well from the desire of promoting 
the edification of Christ's body upon earth, as from 
motives of private gratitude. You have been the 
instrument in the hands of Providence of bringing 
me to a serious sense of things: for, at the time of 
my father's death, I was using such methods of 
alleviating my sorrow, as I almost shudder to recol- 
lect. But, blessed be God, I have now experien- 
ced that 'Christ is the power of God, and the wis- 
dom of God.' What a blessing is the Gospel! No 



34 MEMOIR OF 

heart can conceive its excellency, but that which 
has been renewed by divine grace." 

"I have lately," he writes in the second letter, 
"been witness to a scene of distress. * # * in this 
town, with whom I have been little acquainted, 
and who had lived to the full extent of his income, 
is now dying, and his family will be left perfectly 
destitute. I called yesterday to know whether he 
was still alive, and found his wife in a greater agony 
than you can conceive. She was Avringing her 
hands, and crying out to me, 'O pray for his souP — 
and then again recollecting her own helpless; condi- 
tion, and telling me of her wretchedness in being 
turned out upon the wide world without house 
or home. It was in vain to point to heaven; the 
heart, distracted and overwhelmed with worldly 
sorrow, finds it hard to look to God. — Since writing 
this, I have been to call on the daughters of # * * 
who had removed to another house because, from 
the violence of their grief, they incommoded the 
sick man. Thither I went to visit them, with my 
head and heart full of the subject I was come upon; 
and was surprised to find them cheerful, and thun- 
derstruck to see a Gownsman reading a play to 
them. A play — when their father was lying in the 
agonies of death. What a species of consolation! 
I rebuked him so sharply, and, I am afraid, so 
intern perately, that a quarrel will perhaps ensue. 
But it is time that I should take some notice of your 
letter: When we consider the misery and darkness 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. - 35 

of the unregenerate world, O with how much 
reason should we burst out into thanksgiving to 
God, who has called us in his mercy through 
Christ Jesus! What are we, that we should be 
thus made objects of distinguishing grace! Who 
then that reflects upon the rock from which he 
was hewn, but must rejoice to give himself entirely 
and without reserve to God, to be sanctified by his 
Spirit. The soul that has truly experienced the 
love of God, will not stay meanly inquiring how 
much he shall do, and thus limit his service; but 
will be earnestly seeking more and more to know 
the will of his heavenly Father, that he may be 
enabled to do it. O may we be both thus minded! 
May we experience Christ to be our all in all, not 
only as our Redeemer, but as the fountain of grace. 
The parts of the word of God you have quoted on 
this head, are indeed awakening — may they teach 
us to breathe after holiness, to be more and more 
dead to the world, but alive unto God through 
Jesus Christ. We are lights in the world; how 
needful then that our tempers and lives should 
manifest our high and heavenly calling. Let us, as 
we do, provoke one another to good works, not 
doubting but that God will bless our feeble endeav- 
ors to his glory. — I have to bless Him for another 
mercy I have received, in addition to the multitude 
of which I am so unworthy, in his having given me 
a friend indeed, one who has made much about the 
same advances in religion as myself. We took our 



36 MEMOIR OF 

degrees together, but Mr. Simeon introduced us to 
each other. — I do not wonder much at the back- 
wardness you complain of before * * *, having 
never been in much company. But the Christian 
heart is ever overflowing with good-will to the rest 
of mankind; and this temper will produce the 
truest politeness, of which the affected grimace of 
ungodly men is but the shadow. Besides, the con- 
fusion felt in company arises in general from vanity: 
therefore, when this is removed, why should we 
fear to speak before the whole world? The 
Gownsman I mentioned, so far from being offended, 
has been thanking me for what I said, and is so 
seriously impressed with the awful circumstances of 
death; that I am in hopes it may be the foundation 
of a lasting change." 

It will be highly pleasing to the reader to know, 
that the anticipation with which the above letter 
concludes was verified. Mr. Martyn had after- 
wards the happiness of laboring in India together 
with that very person who had been reproved by 
him, and who, from the divine blessing accompany- 
ing that reproof, was then first led to appreciate 
the value of the Gospel. 

From this time to that of proposing himself for 
admission to a fellowship in his college, Mr. Mar- 
tyn's engagements consisted chiefly in instructing 
some pupils, and preparing himself for the exami- 
nation, which was to take place previous to the 
election in the month of March 1802, when he wa^ 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 37 

chosen fellow of St. John's. Soon after obtaining 
which situation, as honorable to the society in the 
appointment, as it was gratifying to himself, he 
employed some of his leisure hours, as he expresses 
it, in writing for one of those prizes, two of which 
are given to those who have been last admitted 
Bachelors of Arts: and although there were men 
of great classical celebrity, as it was well known, 
who contested the palm with him, the first prize 
was assigned to him for the best Latin prose com- 
position; a distinction the more remarkable, as from 
his entrance at the University he had directed an 
unceasing and almost undivided attention to Mathe- 
matics. Having thus added another honor to 
those for which he had before been so signally 
distinguished, Mr. Martyn departed from Cam- 
bridge, on a visit to his relations in Cornwall — 
making a circuit on foot through Wenlock, Liver- 
pool, and the vale of Langollen. Of this tour, (on 
which he was at first attended by one of his 
friends,) he has left a Journal, briefly and hastily 
written, from with a few extracts, as illustrative 
of his character, may not prove uninteresting. 

"July 9, 1802. We walked into Wenlock along 
a most romantic road. My mind, during these 
three days, has been less distracted than I expected; 
and I have had, at times, a very cheering sense of 
the presence of my God." 

"July 10. I went on board a little sloop, and 
began to beat down the Mersey. The Mersey is 
4 



38 MEMOIR OF 

here more than four miles broad, ?nd the wind now 
increasing almost to a storm, the ship was a scene of 
confusion. One wave broke over us, and wetted me 
completely through. I think there was some 
danger, though the composure I felt did not arise, 
I fear, so much from a sense of my acceptance 
with God, as from thinking the danger not to be 
great. I had still sufficiently near views of death, 
to be uneasy at considering how slothful I had been 
in doing the Lord's work, and what little meetness 
I possessed for the kingdom of glory. Learn then, 

my soul, to be always ready for the coming of thy 
Lord; that no disquieting fear may arise to perplex 
thee in that awful hour." 

"July 23 — Holywell. Found myself very low 
and melancholy. If this arises from solitude, I 
have little pleasure to expect from my future tour. 

1 deserve to be miserable, and I wish to be so if 
ever I seek my pleasure in any thing but God." 

"July 25 — Carewys. I did not go to Church 
this morning as the service was in Welch, but 
went through the Church service at home — in the 
evening read Isaiah." 

"July 29 — Aber. Walked two miles into the 
country to see a waterfall. I followed the course 
of the stream, which soon brought me to it. The 
water falls three times from the top — the last fall 
appeared to be about seventy feet. 'While linger- 
ing about here, I was put into great terror by some 
huge stones rolling down the hill behind me. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 39 

They were thrown down by some persons above, 
who could not approach near enough to the preci- 
pice, to see me below. The slipperiness of the 
rocks, on which the spring is continually falling, put 
me in danger." 

"The beautiful and retired situation of the inn 
at Aber, which commands an extensive view of the 
sea, made me unwilling to leave the house. How- 
ever I set off at eleven, and paced leisurely to 
Bangor. It was a remarkably clear day. The sun 
shone on every object around me, and the sea 
breeze tempered the air. I felt happy at the 
sight, and could not help being struck with the 
beauty of the creation and the goodness of the 
God of nature." 

"August 6 — Betbgelert. The descent, after 
ascending Snowdon, was easy enough, but I cannot 
describe the horror of the ascent. The deep dark- 
ness of the night, the howling of the wind in the 
chasms of the rocks, the violence of the rain, and 
the sullen silence of the guide, who was sometimes 
so far back that I could hardly see him, all con- 
spired to make the whole appear a dream." 

"July 31 — Pont Aberglasslen. I met a poor 
Welch pedlar, with a bundle of hats on his back, 
who, on my inquiring the distance to Tan-y-Bwich, 
told me he was going thither. He Avent by the 
old road, which is two miles nearer. It passes 
over the most dreary uncultivated hills I ever saw, 
where there is scarce any mark of human industry. 



.40 MEMOIR OF 

The road in most places overgrown with grass. — 
The poor man had walked from Carnarvon that 
day, with an enormous bundle; and pointed with 
a sorrowful look to his head; and indeed he did 
look very ill: he was however very cheerful: 
what difference in this man's temper and my own! 
The difference was humbling to myself: when 
shall I learn in whatever state I am therewith to 
be content! 

"August 5. My walk for ten miles was similar to 
that of the preceding evening, only still more 
beautiful, for the Dovey widened continually, and 
the opposite hills were covered with woods: At 
last the river fell into the sea, and the view was 
then fine indeed. The weather was serene, and 
the sea unruffled. I felt little fatigue; and so my 
thoughts were turned to God. But if I cannot be 
thankful to Him, and be sensible of his presence in 
seasons of fatigue, how can I distinguish the work- 
ings of the Spirit from the ebullitions of animal 

joy?" 

It is in scenes and seasons of solitude and relaxa- 
tion, such as those here described, that the true 
bias of the mind is apt to discover itself: in which 
point of view the above account is important; for 
short as it is, it evinces an habitual devotedness to 
the fear of God; and great spirituality in the affec- 
tions. 

This tour terminated in bringing Mr. Martyo 
into the bosom of his family; and days more de- 



ffcEv\ henry martyn. 41 

lightful than those which he then spent he never 
saw in this world. The affectionate reception he 
met with from his friends; the pious conversation 
he held with his sister on the things dearest to his 
heart; his sacred retirements; and the happy ne- 
cessity imposed upon him of almost exclusively 
studying the word of God — all conspired to pro- 
mote his felicity. These hours left for a long time 
"a fragrancy upon his mind, and the remembrance 
of them was sweet." 

"As my sister and myself," he remarks, "were 
improved in our attainments, we tasted much agree- 
able intercourse. I did not stay much at Truro, on 
account of my brother's family of children; but at 
Woodberry, with my brother-in-law, I passed some 
of the sweetest moments of my life. The deep 
solitude of the place favored meditation; and the 
romantic scenery around supplied great external 
source of pleasure. For want of other books, I 
was obliged to read my Bible almost exclusively; 
and from this I derived great spirituality of mind 
compared with what I had felt before." 

In the beginning of October 1802, all these tran- 
quil and domestic joys were exchanged for the se- 
verer engagements of the University; and the con- 
clusion of this year constituted a memorable era in 
Mr. Martyn's life. We have already seen him be^ 
coming the servant of Christ, dedicating himself to 
the ministry of the Gospel, experiencing the conso- 
lations of real religion, exhibiting its genuine fruits; 
#4 



42 MEMOIR OP 

now we are to behold him in a jet higher character, 
and giving the most exalted proofs of faith and love. 
God, who has appointed different orders and de- 
grees in his Church, and who assigns to all the 
members of it their respective stations, was at this 
time pleased, by the almighty and gracious influ- 
ence of his Spirit, to call the subject of this Memoir 
to a work demanding the most painful sacrifices 
and the most arduous exertions, — that of a Chris- 
tian Missionary. The immediate cause of his deter- 
mination to undertake this office, was hearing the 
Key. Mr. Simeon remark on the benefit which had 
resulted from the services of a Missionary* in India: 
his attention was thus arrested, and his thoughts 
occupied with the vast importance of the subject. 
Soon after which, perusing the life of David 
Brainerd, who preached with apostolical zeal and 
success to the North American Indians, and who 
finished a course of self-denying labors for his Re- 
deemer, with unspeakable joy, at the early age of 
thirty-two, his soul was filled with a holy emulation 
of that extraordinary man; and, after deep consid- 
eration and fervent prayer, he was at length fixed 
in a resolution to imitate his example. Nor let 
it be conceived that he could adopt this resolution 
without the severest conflict in his mind: for he 
was endued with the truest sensibility of heart, and 
was susceptible of the warmest and tenderest at- 

* Dr, Carejr* 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 43 

tachments. No one could exceed him in love for 
his country, or in affection for his friends; and few 
could surpass him in an exquisite relish for the 
various and refined enjoyments of a social and 
literary life. How then could it fail of being a 
moment of extreme anguish, when he came to the 
deliberate resolution of leaving for ever all he held 
dear upon earth. But he was fully satisfied that 
the glory of that Savior, who loved him, and gave 
himself for him, would be promoted by his going 
forth to preach to the Heathen: he considered 
their pitiable and perilous condition: he thought 
on the value of their immortal souls: he remem- 
bered the last solemn injunction of his Lord, "Go 
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost" — an injunction never revoked, and com- 
mensurate with that most Encouraging promise, 
w Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
the world." Actuated by these motives, he offered 
himself in the capacity of a Missionary* to the 
Society for Missions to Africa and the East; and 
from that time stood prepared, with a child-like 
simplicity of spirit, and an unshaken constancy of 
soul, to go to any part of the world, whither it 
might be deemed expedient to send him. 

The following letter, to his youngest sister, writ* 
ten not long after he had taken this resolution to de- 

* It is now called "The Church Missionary Society for Africa and the 
East," and eminently deserves the cordial support of every member of tbe 
Church of England. 



44 MEMOIR OF 

vote himself to the life of a Missionary, and more 
particularly some passages copiously extracted from 
his private Journal, will strikiiigly exhibit the varied 
exercises of his mind at this interesting and most 
trying juncture. — From thence it will be seen, 
that he steadily contemplated the sacrifices he must 
make, and the difficulties he might encounter — that 
though sometimes cast down, he was yet upheld in 
the prospect of his great work, by him who had 
called him to it — that his notions of the character of 
a Missionary were elevated — his supplications for 
grace and mercy incessant — his examination of his 
own heart, deep and sober and searching — in one 
word that he was a man of God, eminently endued 
with the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound 
mind. 

"I received your letter yesterday, and thank God 
for the concern youSnanifest for my spiritual wel- 
fare. O that we may love each other more and 
more in the Lord. The passages you bring from 
the word of God, were appropriate to my case, 
particularly those from the first Epistle of St. 
Peter and that to the Ephesians, though 1 do not 
seem to have given you a right view of my state. 
The dejection I sometimes labor under, seems not 
to arise from doubts of my acceptance with God, 
though it tends to produce them; nor from de- 
sponding views of my own backwardness in the 
divine life, for I am more prone to self-dependence 
and conceit} but from the prospect of the dijfi- 






REV. HENRY MARTY N. 45 

culties I have to encounter in the whole of my fu- 
ture life. The thought that I must be unceas- 
ingly employed in the same kind of work amongst 
poor ignorant people, is what my proud spirit re- 
volts at. To be obliged to submit to a thousand 
uncomfortable things that must happen to me, 
whether as a minister or a missionary, is what the 
flesh cannot endure. At these times I feel neither 
love to God or man, and in proportion as these 
graces of the Spirit languish, my besetting sins — 
pride and discontent and unwillingness for every 
duty, make me miserable. You will best enter 
into my views by considering those texts, which 
serve to recal me to a right aspect of things. I 
have not that coldness in prayer you would expect, 
but generally find myself strengthened in faith and 
humility and love after it: but the impression is 
so short. I am at this time enabled to give my- 
self, body, soul, and spirit, to God, and perceive it 
to be my most reasonable service. How it may be 
when the trial comes I know not, yet I will trust 
and not be afraid. Tn order to do his will cheer- 
fully, I want love for the souls of men to suffer it: I 
want humility: let these be the subjects of your 
supplications for me. I am thankful to God that 
you are so free from anxiety and care: we cannot 
but with praise acknowledge his goodness. What 
does it signify whether we be rich or poor, if we 
are sons of God? How unconscious are they of their 
real greatness, and will be so till they find them- 



46 ' MEMOIR OF 

selves in glory! When we contemplate our ever- 
lasting inheritance, it seems too good to be true; 
yet it is no more than is due to the blood of God 
manifest in the flesh. 

"A journey I took last week into Norfolk, seems 
to have contributed greatly to my health. The at- 
tention and admiration shewn me are great and 
very dangerous. The praises of men do not now 
indeed flatter my vanity as they formerly did; I 
rather feel pain through anticipation of their con- 
sequences; but they tend to produce imperceptibly 
a self-esteem and hardness of heart How awful 
and awakening a consideration is it, that God 
judgeth not as man judgeth! Our character before 
him is precisely as it was before or after any change 
of external circumstances. Men may applaud or 
revile, and make a man think differently of himself; 
but he judgeth of a man according to his secret 
walk. How difficult is the work of self-examination! 
Even to state to you imperfectly my own mind, I 
found to be no easy matter. Nay, St. Paul says, 
'I judge not mine own self, for he that judgeth me 
is the Lord.' That is, though he was not conscious 
of any allowed sin, yet he was not hereby justified, 
for God might perceive something of which he was 
not aware. How needful then the prayer of the 
Psalmist, 'Search me, O God, and try my heart, and 
see if there be any evil way in me.' May God be 
with you and bless you, and uphold you with the 
right hand of his righteousness: and let us seek to 






REV. HENRY MARTYN. 47 

love, for he that dwelleth in love dvvelleth in God, 
for God is love." 

In a Journal replete with sentiments of most 
ardent piety, we meet with the following reflections, 
recorded in the interval, between the latter end of 
the year 1802, the time when he first resolved to 
serve Christ as a Missionary, and the autumn of 
the year 1803, when he was admitted into Holy 
Orders. 

But let us hear his reasons for keeping such a 
record of the state of his mind: — "I am convinced 
that Christian experience is not a delusion — whether 
mine is so or not will be seen at the last day — my 
object in making this Journal, is to accustom myself 
to self-examination, and to give my experience a 
visible form, so as to leave a stronger impression on 
the memory, and thus to improve my soul in holi- 
ness — for the review of such a lasting testimony 
will serve the double purpose of conviction and con- 
solation." 

Divided as Christians are in judgment respecting 
the general utility of a religious diary, there can be 
but one opinion amongst them respecting the un- 
common excellence of the following observations. 

"Since I have endeavored to divest myself of 
every consideration independent of religion, I see 
the difficulty of maintaining a liveliness in devotion 
for any considerable time together; nevertheless as 
I shall have to pass the greater part of my future 
life^ after leaving England, with no pther source of 



48 MEMOIR OF 

happiness than reading, meditation, and prayer, I 
think it right to be gradually mortifying myself to 
every species of worldly pleasure." — "In all my life 
I have fixed on some desirable ends, at different 
distances, the attainment of which was to furnish me 
with happiness. But now in seasons of unbelief, 
nothing seems to lie before me but one vast unin- 
teresting wilderness, and heaven appearing but 
dimly at the end. Oh! how does this shew the 
necessity of living by faith! What a shame that I 
cannot make the doing of God's will my ever de- 
lightful object, and the prize of my high calling, the 
mark after which I press!" 

"I was under disquiet at the prospect of my 
future work, encompassed with difficulties; but I 
trusted I was under the guidance of infinite wisdom, 
and on that I could rest." "* * # , who had re- 
turned from a mission, observed that the crosses to 
be endured were far greater than can be conceived: 
but 'none of these things move me, neither count I 
my life dear unto me, so that I might finish my 
course with joy.' " — "Had some disheartening 
thoughts at night, at the prospect of being stripped 
of every earthly comfort; but who is it that maketh 
my comforts to be a source of enjoyment? Cannot 
the same make cold and hunger and nakedness and 
peril to be a train of ministering angels, conducting 
me to glory?" — "O my soul, compare thyself with 
St. Paul, and with the example and precepts of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Was it not his meat and drink 
to do the will of his heavenly Father?" 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 49 

"Finished the account of Dr. Vanderkemp, and 
longed to be sent to China. But I may reasonably 
doubt the reality of every gracious affection, they 
are so like the morning cloud, and transient as the 
early dew. If I had the true love of souls, I should 
long and labor for those around me, and afterwards 
for the conversion of the Heathen." 

"I had distressing thoughts about the little 
prospect of happiness in my future life. Though 
God has not designed man to be a solitary being, 
yet surely the child of God would delight to pour 
out his soul for whole days together before God. 
Stir up my soul to lay hold on thee, and remove 
from me the cloud of ignorance and sin that hides 
from me the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of 
my God." — "I found Butler's Analogy useful in 
encouniging me to self-denial, by the representa- 
tion he gives of this life, as a state of discipline for 
a better."— -"Since adopting the Gospel as the 
ground of my hope and rule of my life, I feel the 
force of the argument drawn from its exalted mo- 
rality. In so large a work as the Bible, by so 
many writers, in such different ages, never to meet 
with any thing puerile or inconsistent with their 
own views of the Deity, is a circumstance un- 
paralleled in any other book." — Respecting w r hat 
is called the experience of Christians, it is certain 
we have no reason from the mere contemplation of 
the operations of our own minds, to ascribe them 
to an extrinsic agent, because they arise from their 



50 MEMOIR OF 

proper causes, and are directed to their proper 
ends. The truth or falsehood of pretences to the 
experience of divine agency, must depend on the 
truth or falsehood of Scripture: that warrants us 
sufficiently — for it informs us, that it is 'God that 
worketh in us both to will and to do, of his good 
pleasure;' which passage, while it asserts the re- 
ality of God's influence, points out also the manner 
of his acting, for he works in us to will before he 
works in us to do. This effectually guards against 
fanaticism, for no one will pretend he ever put his 
finger on those mysterious springs that move the 
will, or knows what they be; and therefore he 
cannot say, now God is exerting his influence. 
He may reasonably indeed and ought to ascribe 
every good thought to God, but still every good 
thing in him is but the effect of something preced- 
ing his first perception, therefore is posterior to the 
moving cause, which must hence be forever con- 
cealed from the immediate knowledge of man." 
U # # # came, and we resumed our exercises of 
reading and prayer: though it be true that the more 
strict our obedience is, the more evidently does the 
imperfection of it appear, yet I think it reasonable 
to be thankful that I have received grace, to stir 
one single step this day towards the kingdom of 
heaven." — "After my prayers, my mind seems 
touched with humility and love, but the impression 
decays so soon! Resolved for the future to use 
more watchfulness in reading and prayer." — "My 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 51 

prayers have been frequent of late, but I cannot 
realize the presence of the Almighty God. I have 
not enjoyed communion with him, or else there 
would not be such strangeness in my heart towards 
the world to come." — "In my walk out, and during 
the remainder of the day, the sense of my own 
weakness and worthlessness called me to watchful- 
ness and dependence on the grace of Christ." — 
"My soul rather benumbed than humble and con- 
trite, tired with watchfulness, though so short and 
so feeble." — "Sudden flashes of faint affection 
to-day, which raised self-satisfaction, but no abiding 
humiliation." — "Talked with much contemptuous 
severity about conformity to the world; alas! all 
that is done in this way, had better be left undone." 
— "This was a day when I could only by transient 
glimpses perceive that all things were 'loss for the 
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 
Lord.' 

"I am not conscious of any particular back- 
sliding from God; I think my prayers have been 
more earnest; yet the views of my own heart have 
produced, not humility, but discontent, because I 
suppose they are grating to pride." — "What is the 
state of my own soul before God? I believe that it is 
right in principle: I desire no other portion but God: 
but I pass so many hours as if there were no God 
at all. I live far below the hope, comfort, and 
holiness of the Gospel: but be not slothful, O my 
soul, look unto Jesus the author and finisher of thy 



52 MEMOIR OP 

rail h. For whom was grace intended if not for me? 
Are not the promises made to me? Is not mv 
Maker in earnest, when he declareth he willeth my 
sanctification, and hath laid help on one that is 
mighty? I will therefore have no confidence in the 
flesh, but rejoice in the Lord, and the joy of the 
Lord shall be my strength. May I receive from 
above a pure, a humble, a benevolent, a heavenly 
mind!" 

"Rose at half-past five, and walked a little before 
chapel, in a happy frame of mind. Endeavored to 
maintain affectionate thoughts of God as my Father, 
on awaking in the morning. Setting a watch over 
my first thoughts, and endeavoring to make them 
humble and devout, I find to be an excellent prep- 
aration for prayer, and a right spirit during the day. 
I was in a happy frame most of the day; towards 
the evening, from seeking to maintain this right 
state by my own strength, instead of giving it per- 
manency by faith in Jesus, I grew tired and very 
insensible to most things. At chapel the sacred 
melody wafted my soul to heaven: the blessedness 
of heaven appeared so sweet, that the very possi- 
bility of losing it appeared terrible, and raised a 
little disquiet with my joy. After all, I had rather 
live in an humble, and dependent spirit, for then 
perceiving underneath me the everlasting arms, I 
can enjoy my security.'' — "Amid the joyous affec- 
tions of this day, I quickly forgot my own worth- 
iessness and helplessness, and thus looking off from 



REV. ftENRY MARTYN. 53 

Jesus, found myself standing on slippery ground. 
But oh! the happiness of that state, where pride 
shall never intrude to make our joys an occasion of 
sorrow." 

"Rose at six, and passed the morning in great 
tranquillity. Learnt by heart some of the three 
first chapters of Revelation. This is to me the 
most searching and alarming part of the Bible; 
yet now with humbling hope I trusted, that the 
censures of my Lord did not belong to me; except 
that those words, Rev. ii, 3, — 'For my name's 
sake thou hast labored and hast not fainted,' 
were far too high a testimony for me to think of 
appropriating to myself; nevertheless I besought 
the Lord, that whatever I had been, I might now 
be perfect and complete in all the will of God." — 
"Men frequently admire me, and I am pleased, 
but I abhor the pleasure I feel; oh! did they but 
know that my root is rottenness!" — "Heard Pro- 
fessor Farish preach at Trinity Church on Luke 
xii, 4, 5, and was deeply impressed with the rea- 
sonableness and necessity of the fear of God. Felt 
it to be a light matter to be judged of man's judg- 
ment; why have I not awful apprehensions of the 
glorious Being at all times? The particular promise 
— 'him that overcometh will I make a pillar in 
the temple of my God, and he shall go no more 
out,' &c. dwelt a long time on my mind, and 
diffused an affectionate reverence of God." — "I 
see a great work before me now, namely the sub- 
5* 



54 MEMOIR OF 

duing and mortifying of my perverted will. What 
am I that I should dare to do my own will, even 
if I were not a sinner; — but noAV how plain, how 
reasonable to have the love of Christ constraining 
me to be his faithful willing servant, cheerfully 
taking up the cross he shall appoint me." — "Read 
some of Amos with Lowth. The reading of the 
Scriptures is to me one of the most delightful em- 
ployments. One cannot but be charmed with the 
beauty of the imagery, while they never fail to 
inspire me with awful thoughts of God and his 
hatred of sin." — "The reading of Baxter's Saint's 
Rest determined me to live more in heavenly med- 
itation." — "Walked by moonlight, and found it 
a sweet relief to my mind to think of God, and 
consider my ways before him. I was strongly 
impressed with the vanity of the world, and could 
not help wondering at the imperceptible operation 
of grace, which had enabled me to resign expec- 
tations of happiness from it." — "How frequently 
has my heart been refreshed, by the description in 
the Scriptures of the future glory of the Churchy 
and the happiness of man hereafter." — "I felt the 
force of Baxter's observation, that if an angel had 
appointed to meet me, I should be full of awe — 
how much more when I am about to meet God." — 
"In my usual prayer at noon, besought God to 
give me a heart to do his will." — "For poor * # * 
I interceded most earnestly, even with tears," 



REV. HENRY MAXITYN*. • 55 

That one thus eminently watchful and holy, 
who, "counted all tilings but loss for ihe excel- 
lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord," 
should speak of himself in the strongest terms of 
self-condemnation, will appear incongruous to those 
only who forget that the prophet, who uttered in 
the presence of Jehovah the words of submissive 
devotion, "Here am I, send me," exclaimed at the 
same time, in the lowly language of contrition, 
"Woe is me, for I am undone, I am a man of pol- 
luted lips;" and that it was when the Laodiceans 
ceased to know that they were "wretched and 
miserable and poor and blind and naked," that 
they became defective in zeal for the glory of their 
Savior. Whoever considers that tenderness of 
conscience is found always in an exact proportion 
to fervent desires after an entire conformity to the 
divine image, will be prepared to expect, and 
pleased to peruse, such humble confessions and 
sacred aspirations as Mr. Martyn's, which seem to 
bring us back to the days of Ephraim . the Syrian 
and St. Augustine. — "The essence of Evangelical 
humiliation," observes the celebrated writer* on 
the Religious x\ffections, "consists in such humility 
as becomes a creature under a dispensation of 
grace, consisting in a mean ' esteem of himself as 
nothing, and altogether contemptible and odious, 
attended with a mortification of a disposition to 

* Jonathan Edwards. 



56 MEMOIR OF 

exalt himself, and a free renunciation of his own 
glory. — He that has much grace, apprehends much 
more than others that great height to which his 
love ought to ascend, and he sees better than others 
how little a way he has risen towards that height, 
and, therefore, estimating his love by the whole 
height of his duty, it appears astonishingly little 
and low in his eyes. — It most demonstrably appears 
that true grace is of that nature, that the more a 
person has of it with remaining corruption, the less 
does his goodness and holiness appear in proportion, 
not only to his past deformity, but to his present 
deformity, in the sin that now r appears in his heart, 
and in the abominable effects of his highest affec- 
tions and brightest experience." — What better com- 
ment can be found on these profoundly scriptural 
remarks of a divine, who stood singularly high in 
Mr. Martyn's estimation, than the self-abasing ac- 
knowledgments of his which follow? 

"What a sink of corruption is the heart! and 
yet I can go from day to day in self-seeking and 
self- pleasing. Lord, shew me myself, nothing but 
wounds and bruises and putrifying sores, and teach 
me to live by faith on Christ my all." — "I fear 
the exemption from assaults, either external or 
internal, is either in itself a bad symptom of self- 
ignorance, or leads to pride and self-seeking. Re- 
veal to me the evil of my heart, O thou heart- 
searching God." 






REV. HENRY MARTTN. 57 

"I feel a sad strangeness between God and my 
soul from careless unbelieving prayer. I am afraid 
the work of grace is but sh allow. I pray, but 
look not for an answer from above: but while I 
consider at the times of prayer every grace as 
coming from God, yet in the general tenor of my 
course, I seem to lay the greater stress on my 
endeavors, heedless of the strength of Christ." — 
"How much better is it to have a peaceful sense 
of my own wretchedness, and a humble waiting 
upon God for sanctifying grace, than to talk much 
and appear to be somebody in religion!" 

"O my God, who seest me write, and recordest 
in the book of thy remembrance more faithfully 
my sins and backslidings; bring down my soul to 
repent in dust and ashes for my waste of time, 
carnal complacency and self-sufficiency. I would 
desire to devote myself anew to thee in Christ; 
though I fear I hardly know what it means, so 
great is really my ignorance of myself." 

"Short and superficial in prayer this morning, 
and there undoubtedly is the evil. Read Lowth — 
Learnt 15th John; and endeavored faintly to be 
drawing nigh unto God. Read D. Brainerd's 
Journal in the afternoon. At Mr. Simeon's church 
this evening, my mind was wandering and stupid. 
His sermon was very impressive, on Rev. iii, 2. 
Thanks to God that though mv graces are declin- 
ing, and my corruptions increasing, I am not 
unwilling to be reclaimed. For with all this evil 



58 MEMOIR OF 

in my heart, I would not, could not choose any 
other than God for my portion." — "At dear Mr. 
Simeon's rooms, I perceived that I had given him 
pain by inattention to his kind instructions. Base 
wretch that I am, that by carelessness and unmor- 
tified pride, I should thus ungratefully repay his 
unexampled kindness. But if the sense of ingrati- 
tude to man be thus painful, what ought I not to 
feel in reference to God, that good and holy Being, 
whose sparing mercy keeps me out of hell, though 
I daily dishonor Christ, and grieve his holy Spirit! 
But O my soul! it is awful to trifle in religion. Con- 
fession is not repentance, neither is the knowledge 
of sin contrition." — "Hearing I was to meet two 
men who were not serious, I felt pride, contempt, 
and discontent, to be the torment of my heart." — 
"Condemn myself for not exerting myself in doing 
good to man, by visiting the sick, &c. Certainly 
every grace must be in exercise, if we would enjoy 
the communion of the perfect God. 'I am the 
Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou 
perfect.' Every wheel of the chariot must be in 
motion to gain the race." 

"Was in a composed state, but security led to 
pride. On my looking up to God, for pardon of 
it, and for deliverance from it, I feel overwhelmed 
with guilt. How fast does pride ripen the soul 
for hell!" — "Retained the manna of past experience 
till it putrified in my hands." — "How utterly forget- 
ful have I been this day of the need of Christ's 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 59 

grace, of my own poverty and vileness! 'Let me 
then remember, that all apparent joy in God with- 
out humility, is a mere delusion of Satan." — "This 
is my birth-day, and I am ashamed to review it. 
Lord Jesus, watch over me in the deceitful calm! 
Let me beware of the lethargy, lest it terminate 
in death. 1 desire on this day to renew my vows 
to the Lord, and O that every succeeding year of 
my life may be more devoted to His glory than the 
last."— 

"I thought that my fretfulness and other marks 
of an unsubdued spirit arose from a sense of my 
corruption, and a secret dependence on my own 
powers for a cure. Were I to bring the maladies 
of my soul to the great Physician, in simple re- 
liance on his grace, I should, with many other 
benefits, receive a cure of that bane of my peace, 
disappointed arrogance, which proudly seeks for 
good, where it never can be found. In every dis- 
ease of the soul, let me charge myself with the 
blame, and Christ with the cure of it, so shall I be 
humbled and Christ glorified," — "I do not doubt 
but that I belong to God, yet I am afraid to rejoice 
in that relation. I do not live in the sense of my 
own helplessness, and therefore do not perceive 
that my security is not in myself, but in Jesus 
Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." 
— "I found that the omission of my Journal had 
i^een attended with bad effects. O wretched man 
that I ami If God's word did not unequivocally 



60 MEMOIR OF 

declare the desperate wickedness of the heart, I 
should sink down in despair. Nothing but infinite 
grace can save me. But that which most grieves 
me, is, that I am not humbled at the contemplation 
of myself." — 

"When I look back on every day, I may say I 
have lost it. So much time mispent, so many 
opportunities lost of doing good, by spreading the 
knowledge of the truth by conversation, by ex- 
ample: so little zeal for God, or love to man; so 
much vanity and levity and pride and selfishness, 
that I may well tremble at the world of iniquity 
within. If ever I am saved, it must be by grace. 
May God give me a humble, contrite, childlike, 
affectionate spirit, and a willingness to forego my 
ease continually for his service." — 

"What is my Journal, but a transcript of my 
follies? what else is the usual state of my mind, 
but Aveakness, vanity, and sin? O that I could 
meditate constantly upon divine things; that the 
world and its poor concerns did no more distract 
my heart from God, But how little I know or 
experience of the power of Christ! Truly I find 
my proneness to sin, and that generally prevailing 
ignorance of my mind by which all motives to 
diligence and love are made to disappear, to be my 
misery. Njw therefore I desire to become a fool, 
that I mav be wise: '-the meek will he guide in 
judgment.' — 



REV. HENRY JBARTTN. 



61 



*l felt humbled at the remembrance of mispent 
hours, and while this frame of mind continued, all 
the powers of my soul were perceptibly refreshed. 
The last three chapters of St. John were peculiarly 
sweet and I longed to love. — Mr. Simeon preached 
on John xv, 12; 'This is my commandment, that 
ye love one another as I have loved you.' I saw 
my utter want of such a love as he described it: 
so disinterested, sympathizing, beneficent, and self- 
denying. Resolved to make the acquisition of it 
the daily subject of my future endeavors." — "I 
cared not what was the state of pleasure or pain 
in my heart, so I knew its depth of iniquity, and 
could be poor and contrite in spirit; but it is hard 
and stubborn and ignorant." — "Pride shews itself 
every hour of every day; what long and undisturb- 
ed possession does self-complacency hold of my 
heart! what plans and dreams and visions of futurity 
fill my imagination, in which self is the prominent 
object." — "In my intercourse with some of my dear 
friends, the workings of pride were but too plainly 
marked in my outward demeanor — on looking up 
to God for pardon for it, and deliverance from it, I 
felt overwhelmed with guilt." — »I wa s unwilling to 
resume my studies, while so much seemed to re- 
main to be done in my own heart. Read Hop- 
kins' Sermon on true happiness, and analyzed it. 
The obedience required in it terrified me at firsts 
but afterwards I could adore God, that he had re- 
quir^l me to be perfectly holy. I thought I could 
6 



62 MEMOIR OF 



cheerfully do his will though the world, the flesh, 
and the devil should rise up against me; desired 
to be filled with the fruits of righteousness, par- 
ticularly with humility and love for the poor of 
Christ's flock." 

"Drew near to the Lord in prayer, but was rath- 
er elevated than humbled afterwards. At Mr. 
Simeon's, was deeply impressed with his sermon on 
Eccles. viii, 11. It was a complete picture of the 
human heart; and when he came to say, that they 
sinned habitually, deliberately, and without re- 
morse, I could scarcely believe I was so vile a 
wretch as I then saw myself to be. It was a most 
solemn discourse." — "The less we do the more we 
value it: how poor and mean and pitiful would 
many even of present Christians esteem my life! 
Dear Savior, I desire to be no more lukewarm, but 
to walk nigh to God, to be dead to the world and 
longing for the coming of Christ." 

"I read Hebrew and the Greek of the Epistle to 
the Hebrews. This Epistle is not only not most 
uninteresting as it formerly was, but now the sweet- 
est portion of Holy Scripture I know, partly, I sup- 
pose, because I can look up to Jesus as my High 
Priest, though I may very often doubt whether I 
am interested in him: Yet O how T free is his love to 
the chief of sinners!" — "How many of my days are 
lost, if their worth is to be measured by the stand- 
ard of prevailing heavenly mindedness! I want, 
above all things, a willingness to be despised. What 






REV. KENRY MARTYN, 



€3 



but the humbling influence of the Spirit, shewing 
me my vileness and desperate wickedness, can ever 
produce such an habitual temper!" 

"Mr. Simeon's sermon this evening on 2 Chron. 
xxxii, 31, discovered to me my corruption and vile* 
ness more than any sermon I ever had heard." — 
" O! that I had a more piercing sense of the divine 
presence! How much sin in the purest services! It 
I were sitting in heavenly places with Christ, or rath- 
er with my thoughts habitually there, how would 
every duty, but especially this of social prayer, be- 
come easy: — 'Memoria tua sancta, et dulcedo .tua 
beatissima, possideat animam meam, atque in invisj- 
bilium amorem rapiat illam.' " 

"This day was set apart for a public fast. I 
prayed rather more than two hours, chiefly with 
confession of my own sins, those of my family, and 
the Church; alas! so much was required to be said 
on the first head, that I should have been at no 
loss to have dwelt upon it the whole day." — "Suf- 
fered sleepiness to prevent my reading to my ser- 
vant — it is hurtful to my conscience to let slight 
excuses for an omission of duty to prevail." — "O 
what cause for shame and self-abhorrence arises 
from the review of every day — in morning prayer, 
as usual of late, my soul longed to leave its corrup- 
tions, to think of Christ and live by him. I labored 
to represent to myself powerful considerations to 
stir up my slothful heart to activity, particularly 
that which respects giving instruction to, and pray- 



<>i MEMOIR OF 

ing with people. I set before myself the infinite 
me re j of being out of hell — of being permitted to do 
the will of God — of the love of Christ, which was 
>:o disinterested — how he passed his life in going 
about doing good — how those men who are truly 
great, the blessed Apostles, did the same — how the 
holy angels would delight to be employed on er- 
rands of mercy. A ray of light seems to break 
upon my mind for a moment, and discovers the folly 
and ignorance of this sinful heart: but it quickly re- 
turns to its former hardness. My will is to sit in 
all day reading, not making any effort to think, 
but letting the book fill the mind with a succession 
of notions: when the time comes for reading the 
Scripture and prayer, then it recoils. When an 
opportunity offers of speaking for the good of 
others, or assisting a poor person, then it makes a 
thousand foolish excuses. It would rather go on 
wrapt in self, and leave the world to perish. Ah! 
what a heart is mine! The indistinctness of my 
view of its desperate wickedness is terrible to me, 
that is, when I am capable of feeling any terror. 
But now, my soul, rise from earth and hell — shall 
Satan lead me captive at his will, when Christ ever 
live th to make intercession for the vilest worm? 
O Thou, whose I am by creation, preservation, re- 
demption, no longer my own, but his who lived 
and died and rose again, once more would I resign 
this body and soul, mean and worthless as they are, 
to the blessed disposal of thy holy will! — -May I 



REV. HENRY MARTYR (?5 

have a heart to love God and his people, the flesh, 
heing crucified!" 

"I found a want of the presence of God from the 
fear of having acted against the suggestion of con- 
science, in indulging myself with reading the amus- 
ing account of Dr. Vanderkemp, instead of apply- 
ing to the severer studies of the morning. God be 
merciful to me a sinner! May grace abound, where 
sin has abounded much! May I cheerfully and 
joyfully resign my ease and life in the service of 
Jesus, to whom I owe so much! May it be sweet to 
me to proclaim to sinners like myself the blessed 
efficacy of my Savior's blood! May he make me 
faithful unto death! The greatest enemy I dread is 
the pride of my own heart. Through pride 
reigning, I should forget to know a broken spirits 
then would come on unbelief — weakness — apos- 
tasy." — "If it is a mercy that I am out of hel! 7 
what account should I make of the glorious work 
of the ministry to which I am to be called, who am 
not worthy to be trodden under foot of men." 

Thus having attained to degree of self-knowl- 
edge and of spirituality equally rare, and being 
thoroughly instructed how, "he ought to behave 
himself in the Church of God — the Church of tho 
living God — the pillar and ground of the truth," 
Mr. Marty n prepared for the solemn rite of his 
ordination, which was administered at Ely on Sun- 
day, Oct. 22, 1803: "Blessed is the man whom 
Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee, 
*6 



66 MEMOIR OF 

that he may dwell in thy courts;" Psal. Ixv, 4. This 
blessing surely rested in an eminent degree on Mr. 
Martjn: for what a contrast does his approach to 
the altar on this occasion exhibit to that of those, 
who presumptuously intrude into the sacred office, 
"seeking their own things and not the things of 
Jesus Christ." — Truly might he affirm, that he was 
"inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost, to take upon 
him that office and ministration to serve God, bv 
promoting his glory, and edifying his people:" and 
truly did he resolve to "give himself continually to 
prayer and to the ministry of the word." Yet his 
self-abasement was as usual conspicuous, and he 
bewailed having presented himself for admission 
into the ministry of the Lord Jesus, "in so much 
ignorance and unholiness," and at the same time 
poured out his prayer, that he might have "grace 
to fulfil those promises which he had made before 
God and the people." — The awful weight of 
ordination vows was impressed on no one's mind 
mere deeply than on his — the thought of his 
^responsibility would have overwhelmed him, had 
he not been supported in remembering that the 
treasure of the Gospel was placed in earthen 
vessels, that "the excellency of the power might 
be of God and not of man." That which was the 
comfort of Polycarp as a Bishop, was his conso- 
lation as a Deacon — that he who was constituted 
an overseer of the Church, was himself overlooked by 
Jesus Christ— that in the discharge of his office as 



REV. HENRY MARTYR 67 

pastor of the flock, he was ever under the gracious 
superintendence of that great and good Shepherd 
who laid down his life for the sheep. 

A circumstance which occurred at this time 
shews how seriously his mind was affected. From 
a constitutional delicacy and reserve, no one had 
naturally a greater reluctance than Mr. Martyn 
to obtrude himself on the notice of others in a way 
of admonition; it was a task from which his feel- 
ings recoiled. Observing, however, with pain and 
sorrow, one of the candidates for ordination in an 
apparently careless and unconcerned state, he took 
an opportunity, though the party was not person- 
ally known to him, of admonishing him privately on 
the subject: and in what a strain such a man would 
speak at such a moment, may more easily be con- 
ceived than expressed. — A deep conviction of the 
necessity of reproving others, and not suffering sin 
to remain in them, often induced Mr. Martyo to do 
violence to the retiring tenderness-of his disposition. 
He felt reproof to be "a duty of unlimited extent 
and almost insuperable difficulty'* — but, said he, 
"the way to know when to address men, and when 
to abstain, is to love" and he resolved "not to 
reprove others, except he experienced at the time 
a peculiar contrition of spirit, where he could con- 
scientiously be silent." 

The exercise of his pastoral function Mr. Martyn 
commenced, as curate to the Rev. C. Simeon, in 
the Church of tbe Holy Trinity in Cambridge, 



68 MEMOIR OF 

undertaking likewise the charge of the parish of 
Lol worth, a small village at no great distance from 
the University. There it was, on the Sunday after 
his ordination, that he preached his first sermon, on 
the following words: "If a man die shall he live 
again — all the days of my appointed time will I 
wait, till my change come;" Job xiv, 14. At which 
place after delivering his second sermon on the 
succeeding Sunday, an incident occurred on his way 
home, which is recorded in his Journal, and which 
could not well be effaced from his remembrance. 
An old man, who had been cne of his auditors, 
walked by the side of his horse for a considerable 
time, warning him to reflect, that if any souls per- 
ished through his neglect, their blood would be 
required at his hand. He exhorted him to shew 
his hearers, that they were perishing sinners; to be 
much engaged in secret prayer; and to labor after 
an entire departure from himself to Christ. "From 
what he said on the last head (observes Mr. Mar- 
tyn,) it was clear that I had but little experience; 
but I lifted up my heart afterwards to the Lord, 
that I might be fully instructed in righteousness." — 
So meekly and thankfully did this young minister 
listen to the affectionate counsel of an old disciple. 

On Thursday, Nov. 10, he preached for the first 
time at Trinity Church to a numerous and ear- 
nestly attentive congregation, upon part of that 
address of Jesus to the Woman of Samaria: — "If 
thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 69 

saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest 
have asked of him, and he would have given thee 
living water," John iv, 10; when it was his fer- 
vent desire and prayer to enter fully into the 
solemn spirit of those well known lines, 

"I'd preach as though I ne'er should preach again: 
I'd preach as dying unto d} ing men." 

Nor could words characterise more justly the 
usual strain of his preaching: for whether the 
congregation he addressed were great or small, 
learned and refined, or poor and ignorant, he spake 
as one who had a message to them from God, 
and who was impressed with the consideration, 
that both he and they must shortly stand before 
the Judge of quick and dead. 

The burthens and difficulties of his sacred em- 
ployments lay heavily at first on Mr. Marty fj's 
mind, and considerably depressed his spirits: but 
he endeavored, he writes, in a letter to his earliest 
friend, to keep in view "the unreasonableness of 
jlis discontent (who was a brand plucked out of 
the fire) and the glorious blessedness of the minis*- 
ierial work." At times, he confesses, he was tried 
with a "sinful dislike of his parochial duty" — and 
seemed frequently "as a stone speaking to stones" 
— and he laments that "want of private devotional 
reading and shortness of prayer through incessant 
sermon-making, had produced much strangeness 
between God and his soul." — "Every time," he re- 
marked, "that I open the Scriptures, my thoughts 



70 MEMOIR OF 



II] 



are about a sermon or exposition, so that even 
private I seem to be reading in public." Young 
ministers, those especially who are placed in ex- 
tensive spheres of action, are not ignorant of the 
temptations of which Mr. Martyn here complains 
— and to them it must be a consolation to be 
assured, that the same afflictions were accom- 
plished in one of the most devoted and most faith- 
ful of their brethren. 

Added to those duties which had now become 
his peculiar care, and in which, notwithstanding 
some momentary depressions, he continued stedfast 
and immoveable, always abounding in his work, 
an office of another kind devolved on him towards 
the close of the year 1803 — that of one of the 
public examiners in his college: and if it were too 
much to say, that an examination in the classics 
at St. John's has rarely been conducted more to 
the credit of the society — or to the advantage of 
the students — or to the honor of the examiner — 
certainly it would not be declaring too much to 
aver, that never since the foundation of the college 
has one been held in a more Christian spirit, and 
in a more strict accordance with that extensive 
apostolical injunction — "Whatsoever ye do in word 
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." 
The vigilance with which Mr. Martyn prepared 
for this duty, and the humility in which he speaks 
of himself when engaged in the execution of it. 
shew that his Christianity was of the highest proof. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 71 

"I read Mitford's History of Greece, as I am to 
be classical examiner. To keep my thoughts from 
wandering away to take pleasure in those studies, re- 
quired more watchfulness and earnestness in prayer 
than I can account for. But earnest ejaculation was 
effectual to make me return to the word of God with 
some delight. 'The carnal mind is enmity against 
God,'— and so I find it. I was forced to reason with 
myself, and force open my eyes, that I might see 
the excellency of divine things. Did I delight in 
reading the retreat of the ten thousand Greeks, and 
shall not my soul glory in the knowledge of God 9 
who created the Greeks, and the vast countries over 
which they passed. — I examined in Butler, and in 
Xenophon; how much pride and ostentatious dis- 
play of learning was visible in my conduct! how 
that detestable spirit follows me whatever I do." 

It was customary with Mr. Martyn, at the com- 
mencement of a new year, to take a solemn review 
of the time past, and to contemplate his future 
prospects. In the review of his Journal of the 
year 1803, he judged that he had dedicated too 
much time to public ministrations, and too little 
to private communion with God. Yet he trusted 
that he had grown in grace, inasmuch as the bent 
of his desires was towards God more than when 
he first thought of becoming a Missionary. "In 
heavenly contemplation and abstraction of mind," 
he adds, "my attainments have fallen far short of 
my expectation; but in a sense of my own worth- 



."ME3I0IR OF 



lessness and guilt, and in a consequent subjugation 
of the will, and in a disposition for labor and 
active exertion, I am inclined to think myself 
gaining ground. My soul approves thoroughly the 
life of God, and my one only desire is to be en- 
tirely devoted to him; and O may I live very near 
to him in the ensuing year, and follow the steps of 
Christ and his holy saints. I have resigned in pro- 
fession the riches, the honors, and the comforts of 
this world; and I think also it is a resignation of the 
heart/' Then, after having set apart a day for 
fasting and prayer, he besought God "for under- 
standing and strength, to fit him for a long life of 
warfare and constant self-denial; and that he might 
see clearly why he was placed here, how short the 
rime was, and how excellent to labor for souls, and, 
above all, to feel his desert of hell." — He pray- 
ed also for grace, "to enlighten him in the dark 
seasons of trouble and desponding faith; that he 
might not shrink from cold, and hunger, and painful 
labor, but follow the Lamb whithersoever he went. 1 * 
His soul longed for perfection, but he "feared that 
he had not yet learned the secret of happiness — a 
poor and contrite spirit." 

In the early part of the year 1804, Mr. Marty irs 
expectations of becoming a Missionary were con- 
siderably damped by the very trying event of his 
losing all his slender patrimony; a loss rendered 
more severe to him by the circumstance of his 
youngest sister being involved in the same calamity.- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 73 

His designs of leaving England were, in consequence 
of this disaster, likely to be frustrated: for his pe- 
cuniary resources were cut off, and it appeared to 
him scarcely justifiable to leave his sister in actual 
distress, when his presence in England might al- 
leviate or remove it. In order, therefore, that 
he might consult some of his friends in this emer- 
gency, at the end of June he left Cambridge for 
London. 

The situation of a Chaplain to the East India 
Company had long appeared to many of those who 
took a lively interest in him and his work, to be 
peculiarly eligible, as offering singular facilities for 
Missionary exertions amongst millions of Idolaters. 
The pecuniary advantages of the appointment were 
at first wholly out of their contemplation; and for 
himself, when it was intimated to him that there 
was some expectation of his leaving England in the 
capacity of Chaplain to the East India Company — 
his private Journal contains this remarkable reflec- 
tion. — "The prospect of this world's happiness gave 
me rather pain than pleasure, which convinced me 
that I had been running away from the world 
rather than overcoming it."— That unexpected 
change which had now taken place in Mr. Martyn's 
circumstances caused an increased anxiety amongst 
his friends to procure, if possible, the appointment 
which before they had deemed so desirable; and 
they were not without hopes of seeing the Mission 
K Church at Calcutta placed under his pastoral super- 
7 



74 MEMOIR OF 

intendence. Insuperable obstacles however inter- 
fered with this arrangement, and "a veil was thus 
cast over his future proceedings." 

The patience which Mr. Martyn manifested 
under this disappointment was as edifying and extra- 
ordinary, as the watchfulness which he exercised 
over his mind during his visit to London, lest 
scenes so different from those of Cambridge should 
prove to him a source of distraction and dissipation. 
He speaks at this time of returning on one occasion 
to his room, after having been much abroad and 
making many visits, "unable to remain in an unholy 
dissipated state: and seeking God earnestly in 
prayer." Whilst waiting at the India House, he 
employed that time, for which he says he w r ould 
have given any thing at Cambridge, in private ejac- 
ulatory prayer, and in repeating passages from the 
word of God; — and yet, though he ever aimed at 
an entire abstraction from the vanities of the world, 
he hesitated not to allow himself the full enjoyment 
of rational and refined gratifications: — his observa- 
tions on this head are well w T orth recording: "Since 
I have known God in a saving manner," he 
remarks, "painting, poetry, and music, have had 
charms unknown to me before — I have received 
what I suppose is a taste for them; for religion has 
refined my mind, and made it susceptible of 
impressions from the sublime and beautiful. O 
how religion secures the heightened enjoyment 
of those pleasures which keep so many from God, 
by their becoming a source of pride." 



REV. HENRY MARTYft. 75 

Unable at present to* discern the cloud which 
should conduct him on his way, Mr, Martyn 
resumed his ministerial functions at Cambridge with 
ardor, but with a heavy heart. — The affairs of his 
family, affecting as they did his own destination as 
well as his sister's happiness, were no light pressure 
upon his spirits; in any other point of view they 
would scarcely have raised a sigh, and certainly 
would not greatly have disturbed his composure. 
But when "most oppressed," he was enabled to 
find comfort in reflecting, that "even such a condi- 
tion was infinitely preferable to that of those, 
whose minds were discontented in the pursuit of 
dangerous trifles. 5 ' 

The words of the wise man, that "the day of 
death is better than the day of one's birth," can 
apply only to those who practically discern in the 
light of tho Scriptures the great end of their exist- 
ence. This subject was ever in Mr. Martyn's con- 
templation; and that he might more closely consider 
the object for which he was created, he never failed 
of making a particular commemoration of the anni- 
versary of his birth. "Twenty-three years have 
elapsed," (he wrote on the 18th of February, 
1804,) "since I saw the light — only four of which 
have been professedly given to God — much has 
been left undone — much remains to be done as a 
Christian and Minister: yet my past experience of 
the long suffering of God leaves me no doubt of 
being carried on all the way. I feel that my heart 



76 MEMOIR OF 

is wholly for heaven, and \he world mainly behind 
my back. Praised be the Lord for his mercy and 
patience! The number of my days is fixed in his 
purpose: — O may I 'glorify him on earth, and finish 
the work he has given me to do!' " 
< In the interval which passed between the months 
of February and June, he was found actively labor- 
ing in the service of his divine Master. He preached 
animating and awakening discourses; he excited 
societies of private Christians to "watch, quit them- 
selves like men, and be strong:" he visited many 
of the poor, the afflicted and the dying: he warned 
numbers of the careless and profligate — in a word, 
he did the work of an Evangelist. Often did he 
redeem time from study, from recreation, and from 
the intercourse of friends, that, like his Redeemer, 
he might enter the abodes of misery, either to 
arouse the unthinking slumberer, or to administer 
consolation to the dejected penitent. Many an 
hour did he pass in an hospital or an alms-house — 
and often, alter a day of labor and fatigue, when 
weaned almost to an extremity of endurance, he 
would read and pray with the servant who had 
the carer of his rooms, thus making it his meat 
and drink, his rest as well as his labor, to do the 
will of his heavenly Father, in conformity to the 
example of Christ: — 



'His care iras GxeJ 



To fill his odorous lamp with deeds of light, 
And hope that reaps not shame." 






£EV. HENRY MARTYN. 77 

The delight he experienced on hearing that 
benefit had resulted from his exertions, proved to 
him an ample recompense for every sacrifice of 
time, comfort, or convenience; and it was equalled 
only by the humility with which he received such 
cheering intelligence. "I was encouraged" (he ob- 
serves on receiving a communication of this nature) 
"and refreshed beyond description, and I could only 
cheerfully and gratefully offer up myself to God's 
service: but it was at the same time a check to my 
pride to reject, that though God might in his Sove- 
reignty bless his word by my mouth, I was not on 
that account Jess sinful in my ministrations." 

The incalculable value of habits of self-denial 
never seems to have been more deeply impressed 
upon the mind of Mr. Martyn than at this time. — 
"A despicable indulgence in lying in bed," he says, 
"gave me such a view of the softness of my charac- 
ter, that I resolved, on my knees, to live a life of 
more self-denial: the tone and vigor of my mind 
rose rapidly: all those duties from which I usually 
shrink, seemed recreations. — I collected all the pas- 
sages from the four Gospels that had any reference 
to this subject, it is one on which I need to preach 
to myself, and mean to preach to others. — When- 
ever I can say 'thy will be done,' teach me to do 
thy will, O God, for thou art my God; it is like 
throwing ballast out of an air-balloon, my soul 
ascends immediately, and light and happiness shine 
*7 



78 MEMOIR OF 



around me." — Such was his thirst after this Chris- 
tian temper! such his enjoyment of its blessedness! 
At tlie beginning of the present year, Mr. Mar- 
tyn was apprehensive, we have seen, of having 
bestowed too much time on public duties — too 
ljttle on those which are private and personal. He 
was fully persuaded that in order to take heed 
effectually to his ministry, he must, in obedience 
to the apostolical injunction, take heed primarily to 
"himself:" and this in fact was his settled course 
and practice. He would sometimes set apart sea- 
sons for humiliation and prayer, and would fre- 
quently spend whole evenings in devotion. — Of the 
Bible he could ever affirm, "thy word is very pure, 
therefore thy servant loveth it." "The word of 
Christ dwelt richly in him in all wisdom." Large 
portions of it did he commit to memory, repeating 
them during his solitary w<Hfcs, at those times when 
he was not expressly meditating on some Scriptural 
subject, which was his general custom: and so deep 
w T as his veneration for the word of God, that when 
a suspicion arose in his mind, that any other book he 
might be studying was about to gain an undue influ- 
ence over his affections, he instantly laid it aside. 
Dor would he resume it till he had felt and realized 
the paramount excellence of the divine oracles: he 
could not rest satisfied till all those lesser lights 
which were beginning to dazzle him, had disap- 
peared before the effulgence of the Scriptures. 






REV. HENRY MARTYN. 79 

How much he lored secret prayer, and how 
vigilantly he engaged in the exercise of it, may be 
seen in the subjoined remarks of his on that sub- 
ject: — "I felt the need of setting apart a day for the 
restoration of my soul by solemn prayer: my views 
of eternity are become dim and transient — I could 
live for ever in prayer if I could always speak to 
God. — I sought to pause and consider what I want- 
ed, and to look up with fear and faith, and I found 
the benefit, for my soul was soon composed to that 
devout sobriety, which I knew by its sweetness, to 
be its proper frame. — I was engaged in prayer in 
the manner I like, deep seriousness; at the end of it, 
I felt great fear of forgetting the presence of God, 
and of leaving him as soon as I should leave the 
posture of devotion. — I was led through the mists 
of unbelief, and spake to God as one that was true, 
and rejoiced exceedingly that he was holy and 
faithful: I endeavored to consider myself as being 
alone on the earth with him, and that greatly pro- 
moted my approach to his presence. — My prayer 
for a meek and holy sobriety was granted: O how 
sweet the dawn of Heaven!" 

Nor was Mr. Marty n less diligent and fervent in 
the yet higher branch of Christian worship — 
thanksgiving. — "Let me praise God," he would say, 
"for having turned me from a life of woe to the 
enjoyment of peace and hope. — The work is 
real. — I can no more doubt it than I can doubt my 
existence: the whole current of my desires is 



80 MEMOIR OF 

altered— 'I am walking quite another way, though I 
am incessantly stumbling in that way — I had a most 
blessed view of God and divine things — O how 
great is his excellency! I find my heart pained for 
want of words to praise him according to his excel- 
lent greatness. I looked forward to complete con- 
formity to him, as the great end of my existence, 
and my assurance was full — I said almost with 
tears, 'who shall separate us from the love of 
Christ, 5 "— 

It has been well observed,* that "we may judge 
by our regard for the Sabbath, whether eternity 
will be forced upon us." The application of this 
rule, as it respects Mr. Martyn, will discover a 
singular meetness in him for the inheritance of the 
saints in light. His Sabbaths were Sabbaths in- 
deed, — the antepast often of that rest which is 
everlasting. 

Let us hear his own description of his happiness 
at some of those sacred times: — "Before setting out 
to go to Lolworth, I endeavored to cast away all 
those contemptible prejudices and dislikes I often 
have, and on the road experienced a sweet sense of 
the divine presence, and happy meditation on God 
and his truths. I was thinking of the love of 
Christ and his unparalleled humility, and that to 
him belonged all glory, as having truly merited it. 
I felt quite devoted to God and assured of his love: 

# Adams's Piiy^e Thoughts, 



REV. HENRY MARTYST. 81 

I did not doubt of having been apprehended by 
Christ, (for the purpose, I hope, of preaching his 
Gospel) and during the service my heart was full of 
love and joy." — "At church, this morning, my heart 
was overflowing with love and joy: during the ser- 
mon, which was an exhortation to diligence, a sense 
of my unprofitableness depressed me. — But in my 
ride to Lolworth, I enjoyed sweet delight — every 
breeze seemed to breathe love into my heart; and 
while I surveyed the landscape, I looked forward 
to the days when all nations should come to the 
mountain of the Lord's house." 

By those who forget the history of our Lord's 
life, it might be conceived, that one so blameless and 
harmless as Mr. Martyn, so poor in spirit and pure 
in heart, would pass on his way unassailed by 
calumny or unkindness. But those who draw their 
anticipations from the Scripture, will not "marvel" 
that he should be called to endure unjust insinua- 
tions and aspersions, when his whole life was 
devoted to the welfare of his fellow-creatures; 
yet "when reviled he reviled not again, but 
committed himself to him that judgeth right- 
eously." "Is it not sweet, O my soul," he exclaimed 
under a trial of this kind, "to have a holy God to 
appeal to and converse with, though the world 
should turn their backs?" And it should be re- 
marked here, that his patience under the severe 
and unmerited censures of others was not that which 
is sometimes mistaken for it, the indifference of 



32 MEMOIR OF 

apathy, or superciliousness of contempt: the one 
was as abhorrent to his nature, as the other was to 
the principles of his religion. Censorious tongues 
were to him as they were to David, "spears and 
arrows and sharp swords:"' so far from being callous 
to any attempts to wound his character and his 
peace, he acknowledges that obloquy was a trying 
exercise of his Christian temper, and he considered 
the dispensation as "wholesome," because "to be 
despised by men affected him very deeply," "But 
the name of the Lord is a strong tower — the 
righteous runneth into it, and is safe." "Conscious," 
said he, "that I did not deserve the censures that 
were cast upon me, I committed myself to God, and 
in him may I abide, till the indignation be over- 
past!" 

Those however who maligned and traduced Mr. 
Martyn's character, wounded his spirit far less than 
those, who either scoffed at his high and self-deny- 
ing designs of usefulness, or from worldly motives 
discouraged him from attempting their accomplish- 
ment. No one could be more ready than he to con- 
sider the fittest means for compassing the ends he 
had in view, and to weigh beforehand the difficulties 
attending the life of a Missionary, however favored 
by external circumstances. But objections of a 
contemptuous kind, or those arguments which found- 
ed themselves on an ignorance of the very spirit 
of the Gospel, painfully affected his mind. His re- 
flections, after concluding a long discourse with a 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 83 

person who had addressed him with the kindest in- 
tentions, but with a judgment unenlightened by that 
wisdom which is from above, are worth preserv- 
ing: — "All our conversation on the subject of reli- 
gion ended in nothing. He was convinced he was 
right, and all the texts I produced were, according 
to him, applicable only to the times of the Apostles. — 
How am I constrained to adore God's sovereign 
mercy! My soul, dost thou not esteem all things but 
dung and dross for the excellency of the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus my Lord? Yea, did not gratitude 
constrain me — did not duty and fear of destruction 
— yet surely the excellency of the service of Christ 
would constrain me to lay down a thousand lives in 
the prosecution of it." When called to encounter 
the ridicule of those who, not knowing the hope of 
Christ's calling — nor the riches of the glory of his 
inheritance in the saints — nor the exceeding great- 
ness of his power towards those who believe — des- 
pised all labors of love amongst the Heathen as 
wild and visionary; the Lord helped him to keep 
his ground, and to bear his testimony. "With my 
Bible in my hand, and Christ at my right hand," 
said he, "I can do all things — what though the 
whole world believe not, God abide th true, and my 
hope in him shall be stedfast." 

In the latter part of the spring of this year, he 
had the singular satisfaction of being introduced to 
a personal acquaintance with one of a kindred spirit 
with himself, — the late Henry Kirke White. — Rare 



84 MEMOIR OF 

genius, and above all, sterling piety, could not fail of 
being greatly admired and highly prized by Mr. 
Martyn; he took consequently the liveliest interest 
in behalf of that extraordinary young man, and used 
his utmost endeavors to facilitate his entrance upon 
that course at college, which afterwards proved so 
brilliant and so transient. 

The duties of a public examiner in St. John's were 
now, in the month of June, for the second time con- 
signed to Mr. Martyn; — the subjects for examina- 
tion being one of them from the classics, — the other, 
Locke's Treatise on the Understanding. To those 
who embark in metaphysical disquisitions it will 
serve as a matter of caution; — and to those who are 
harassed with distressing thoughts it may adminis- 
ter consolation, to recite in Mr. Martyn's own words 
the exquisite mental sufferings he endured after al- 
lowing his mind a range of too unlimited a nature 
in these abstract questions: — "My soul," he writes 
"was filled with greater misery and horror than I 
ever yet experienced. — I knew not how to describe 
my feelings, or how I got into them — but it was after 
metaphysical inquiries into the nature and end of my 
Being, and in what consists the happiness of the souL 
I was afraid to leave off praying, and went to bed 
earnestly commending my soul to Christ." "I trem- 
ble," said he, on the succeeding day, "to entei? on 
these inquiries, lest my beclouded reason should lead 
me to the brink of hell. But I know by experience 
that the spirit of submission and sense of the au- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 



thority of God is the only state in which I can ever 
be happy: and precisely in proportion as I depart 
from that state of things, I am unhappy. And so 
strong is this sentiment, that were it not my hope 
that I should one day wholly submit to God and de- 
scend to my right place, I would not wish to exist 
another moment. My trust is that God will ac- 
cording to the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus 
enable a poor worm, who groans under pride, to 
advance steadily and humbly to his end, and pre- 
serve him from those dreadful thoughts that almost 
overwhelm the soul." — Thus when in danger of 
being "spoiled by philosophy," was his soul "upheld 
by the free spirit" of a faithful God. 

It appeared now to be past a doubt, that Mr. 
Martyn would succeed in obtaining a Chaplainship 
in the service of the East India Company, and that 
in the ensuing spring he would be summoned to 
leave the shores of his native country for ever. In 
July, therefore, he visited those scenes which were 
endeared to him by numberless early associations, 
and enlivened by the presence of many whom he 
admired and loved. And here it is due to the full 
illustration of his Christian character to mention, 
that it was not merely the ties of family or friend- 
ship which bound him to Cornwall; others there 
were of a tenderer, if not stronger kind: for he had 
conceived a deeply fixed attachment for one, of 
whom less ought not, and more cannot be said, than 
that she was worthy of him: an attachment which, 
3 



86 MEMOIR OF 

whether he thought as he afterwards did, that it 
should be encouraged, or as he noAV did, from 
peculiar circumstances, that it ought to be repress- 
ed, equally exhibits him as a man of God, whose 
affections were set upon things above and not on 
things on the earth. 

As this was the first time he had been in Corn- 
wall since his ordination, and the last time he ever 
expected to visit it, he was extremely anxious to tes- 
tify the grace of God in his public ministry, when- 
ever he had an opportunity. Such, however, w T as 
the prejudice excited against his religious principles, 
that his labors were almost entirely confined to two 
churches under the care of his brother-in-law, 
There he frequently preached, and there both his 
sisters heard him, the youngest with much delight, 
the eldest with a most gratifying appearance of hav- 
ing been seriously impressed by what fell from his 
lips. "I found," said he, "that she had been deeply 
affected, and from her conversation I received great 
satisfaction— in the evening I walked by the water 
side till late, having my heart full of praise to God 
for having given me such hopes of my sister." 

To the churches where he preached, the com- 
mon people crowded in numbers. At Kenwyn, 
where he addressed them from 2 Cor. v, 20, 21, 
"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as 
♦though God did beseech you by us, we pray you 
in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he 
hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 87 

that we might be made the righteousness of God 
in him;" — the church was so full, that many were 
compelled to stand on the outside,- and many obliged 
to go away. How acceptable he was to those who 
loved and valued the Gospel, may be easily con- 
ceived: yet such was his vigilance of mind and 
tenderness of conscience, that "their commenda- 
tions occasioned him some pdifr? inasmuch as 
"they tended to fan the flame of vanity." The 
Christian, especially the Christian minister, has to 
pass through good report and evil report — and 
praise is a severer test of the strength of his princi- 
ples than dispraise. Mr. Martyn ever found it so, 
and he experienced himself, as well as exemplified 
to others, the truth of those Words of wisdom — "as 
the fining pot for silver and the furnace for gold, so 
is man to his praise;" Prov. xxvii, 21. 

In the private and more retired duties of his 
calling, he was now as usual most unremitting in his 
attention: these in fact were to him the most de- 
lightful parts of his vocation. Happier would he 
have esteemed it, as far as his personal feelings 
were concerned, to kneel, as he did frequently with, 
his youngest sister, beside the beds of the sick and 
dying, than to have had the largest churches in his 
native country, thronged with multitudes attentive 
to hear him: he was of the spirit of that Redeemer, 
who sought to be hid whilst he went about doing 
good. 

His habits of reading and prayer, and particu- 
larly those of divine meditation, were in no degree 



88 memoir or 

relaxed during this visit, and the less so, because he 
acknowledges that "he felt an increased difficulty 
of living in communion with God, where so many 
remembered him a different character." The soli- 
tude of the spot where he resided was happily 
fitted for contemplation:— "The scene," he wrote 
in a letter to a friend from Lamorran, "is such as 
is frequently to be met with in this part of Corn- 
wall. Below the house is an arm of the sea flowing 
between the hills, which are covered with wood. 
By the side of this water I walk in general in the 
evening, out of the reach of all sound, but the rip- 
pling of the water and ths w T histling of the curlew." 
In these pensive and solitary walks, the great sacri- 
fices he was shortly about to make, could not but 
force themselves frequently upon his mind, and raise 
the silent and involuntary sigh: but we may be well 
assured, that "in the multitude of the thoughts 
which he had in his heart, God's comforts refresh- 
ed his soul." 

At length, after having withstood in Cornwall, as 
well as at Cambridge, the arguments of those who 
"at all events would have detained him in England," 
arguments of which he confesses that "some were 

o 

not without weight" — he prepared to leave that 
part of his native country which was peculiarly dear 
to his feeling and affectionate heart. 

The separations of Christians from each other in 
this world of mutability, afflictive as they ever must 
be, have their peculiar alleviations: they know that 
Christ "fills ail things" — and they have the blissful 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 89 

expectation of an endless reunion in that world of 
glory, whither they are hastening. 

Mr. Martyn, with respect to several from whom 
he was now to part, could fully indulge in these 
animating anticipations: but he could not as it 
respected all. The following is a mournful record 
of a final interview overclouded by the gloom of an 
almost hopeless sorrow. " * # * rode with me part 
of the way, but kept the conversation on general 
subjects. If I brought him by force to religion, he 
spoke with the most astonishing apathy on the sub- 
ject. His cold deliberate superiority to every thing 
but argument, convinced me not merely that he was 
not fully convinced as he said, but was rooted in in- 
fidelity. Nothing remained for me but to pray for 
him. Though he parted from me, to see me pro- 
bably no more, he said nothing that could betray 
the existence of any passions in him. O cursed in- 
fidelity, that freezes the heart blood here as well as 
destroys the soul hereafter. I could only adore the 
sovereign grace of God, who distinguished me from 
him, though every thing was alike in us. We have 
been intimate from our infancy, and have had the 
same plans and pursuits, and nearly the same con- 
dition; but one is taken, and the other is left. I, 
through mercy, find my only joy and delight in the 
knowledge of Christ; and he is denying the truth of 
religion altogether." 

By another farewell, which he also lias depicted, 
he could not be otherwise than very deeply affected: 
*8 



90 MEMOIR OF 

hut the sorrow was of a character very dissimilar 
to the last. "Rode before * * * with * * * to an 
old man five miles off. Our conversation was such 
as becometh saints, but it was too pleasant for me. 
I sighed at the thought of losing their company. 
When we arrived, the old man was out, but his 
sister, a blind woman of seventy, was confined to 
her bed, without any comfortable hope. # # * and 
myself said every thing we could to cheer her, 
and then I prayed. When the old man arrived, we 
formed a little circle before the door, under the 
trees and he conversed with his young hearers con- 
cerning the things of God. I then read Psalm 
Ixxxiv. Our ride home was delightful, our hearts 
being all devoutly disposed, only mine was unhappy. 
Parted with * * * forever in this life, with a sort of 
uncertain pain which I knew would increase to 
greater violence." 

These forebodings were but too soon realized. 
On the evening of that day, and for many succeed- 
ing days, his mental agony was extreme — yet he 
could speak to God, as to one who knew the great 
conflict within him: he was convinced, that as God 
willed his happiness, he was providing for it eventu- 
ally by that bitter separation: he resolved through 
grace to be his, though it should be through much 
tribulation: he experienced sweetly and solemnly 
the excellence of serving him faithfully, and of fol- 
lowing Christ and his Apostles; he meditated with 
great joy on the end of this world, and enjoyed the 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 91 

thought of walking hereafter with her, from whom 
he was removed, in the realms of glory. 

But Mr. Martyn had not filled up the measure 
of his sufferings, having not yet bid adieu to his 
sisters. With the eldest he spent one melancholy 
evening, in exhorting her for the last time and en- 
deavoring to comfort her; and on the succeeding 
day he took leave of the youngest: "They parted 
as if to meet no more," and overwhelmed with in- 
expressible grief, could find no consolation but in 
mutually commending each other to the grace of 
God in prayer. 

Thus turning his back, like Abraham of old, on 
his kindred and his country, and looking for that 
city which hath foundations, whose builder and 
maker is God — Mr. Martyn departed from Corn- 
wall. 

At Plymouth, whither he proceeded, he passed a 
Sabbath in a heavenly serenity of spirit, and in the 
full exercise of that faith which is the substance o 
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seem 
There he preached twice; on Dan. v, 22, 23: — "And 
thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine 
heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted 
up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they 
have brought the vessels of his house before thee, 
and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concu- 
bines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast 
praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron* 
wood, and stone, which see not, uor hear, nor know: 



92 MEMOIR OF 

and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose 
are all thj ways, hast thou not glorified:" and on 
Rev. xxii, 17; "And the spirit and the bride say, 
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come: And 
let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let 
him take the water of life freely." — "His soul 
longed," he said, "for the eternal world, and he 
could see nothing on earth for which he would wish 
to live another hour." At this place an incident 
occurred indicative as well of his extraordinary 
humility, as of that extreme temerity of judgment, 
in which those, who make a loud, though in the 
main, genuine profession of religion, are too apt to 
indulge. Having expounded the Scriptures, and 
prayed with many who assembled to listen to his 
parting words, he discovered that there were some 
present who ventured to express a doubt of the reality 
of his religion. One person in particular openly 
avowed his apprehensions concerning him — so that 
his heart was Avounded: yet, observed that meek 
and lowly man of God, "I was thankful to God for 
admonishing me, and my gratitude to the man was, 
I think, unfeigned." — Such was his recorded com- 
ment at the time — and it is noted afterwards in his 
Journal, that this very person was especially remem- 
bered by him in his prayers. 

From Plymouth, where his sorrow was painfully 
renewed, by being separated from a family nearly 
related and greatly endeared to him, he proceeded 
to London; during which journey he sought, accord- 



REV* HENRY MARTYR 93 

ing to his settled custom, to render his conversation 
profitable to his fellow-travellers: and in one instance 
on this occasion, his attempts were not, it may be 
hoped, unattended with success* He had for his 
companion a young French officer, on his parole — 
a Protestant, who had been accustomed, he found, to 
attend to morning and evening prayer, and to read 
his Bible, which he had unfortunately lost when he 
was taken prisoner. But his views of the Gospel 
appearing to Mr. Martyn very defective, he ex- 
plained to him "his state by nature, his condemna- 
tion by the law, the necessity of regeneration, and 
of free salvation by Christ, and the promise of the 
Spirit." The young man paid much attention to 
these admonitions, and expressed great affection for 
his adviser; who afterwards presented him with a 
French Testament, and corresponded with him on 
those important topics which he had set before him. 
Change of place and circumstances did not keep 
Mr. Martyn from communing with that Lord and 
Savior, who is every where, and who was with him 
whithersoever he went. On this journey, when 
leaving Bath early in the morning, "He found his 
soul ascending to God with divine sweetness. Noth- 
ing seemed desirable but to glorify him: all crea- 
tures were as nothing." — Towards the evening, as 
they drew near London, he was delightfully engaged 
in meditation on the latter part of the second 
chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, "contem- 
plating the building as it was rising, and as it would 



94 BltMOIR OF 

be when finished. O the transcendent glory,'* said 
he, "of this temple of souls, lively stones, perfect in 
all its parts, the purchase and the work of God." 

On the 18th of September, we find Mr. Martyn 
again quietly settled at Cambridge — from whence 
his youngest sister received a letter from him, of 
which the following is an extract; and so excellent 
surely is the spirit which pervades it, that tears of 
thankfulness for possessing such a brother must 
have mingled themselves with those, which she 
could not but shed abundantly on account of his 
departure. "We should consider it as a sign for 
good, my dearest # * # , when the Lord reveals to 
us the almost desperate corruption of our hearts. 
For, if he causes us to groan under it as an insup- 
portable burden; he will, we may hope, in his own 
time, give us deliverance. The pride which I see 
dwelling in my own heart, producing there the most 
obstinate hardness, I can truly say, my soul abhors. 
I see it to be unreasonable, I feel it to be torment- 
ing. When I sometimes offer up supplications, with 
strong crying to God, to bring down my spirit into 
the dust, I endeavor calmly to contemplate the infi- 
nite majesty of the most high God, and my own 
meanness and wickedness. Or else I quietly tell 
the Lord, who knows the heart, that I would give 
him all the glory of every thing if I could. But 
the most effectual way I have ever found, is to lead 
away my thoughts from myself and my own con- 
cerns, by praying for all my friends, for the Church, 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 95 

the world, the nation; and, especially, by beseech- 
ing that God would glorify his own great name, by 
converting all nations to the obedience of faith — 
also by praying that he would put more abundant 
honor on those Christians whom he seems to have 
honored especially, and whom we see to be mani- 
festly our superiors. This is at least a positive act 
of humility; and it is certain, that not only will a 
good principle produce a good act, but the act will 
increase the principle. But even after doing all 
this, there will often arise a certain self-compla- 
cence which has need to be checked; and, in con- 
versation with Christian friends, we should be care- 
ful, I think, how self is introduced. Unless we think 
that good will be done, self should be kept in the 
back ground and mortified. We are bound to be 
servants of all, ministering to their pleasure as far 
as will be to their profit. We are to 'look, not at 
our own things, but at the things of others.' Be 
assured, my dear * * # , that, night and day, making 
mention of you in my prayers, I desire of God to 
give you to see the depth of pride and iniquity in 
your heart, yet not to be discouraged at the sight of 
it; that you may perceive yourself deserving to be 
cast out with abhorrence from God's presence, and 
then may walk in continual poverty of spirit and the 
simplicity of a little child. Pray, too, that I may 
know something of humility. Blessed grace! how 
it smoothes the furrows of care, and gilds the dark 
paths of life! It will make us kind, tender-hearted. 



9Q MEMOIR OP 

affable; and enable us to do more Tor God and the 
Gospel than the most fervent zeal without it. 

"I am here without a companion — at first the 
change from agreeable society in Cornwall, as also 
from that I enjoyed at Plymouth, was very irksome, 
but it is good for me." 

His Journal at this period contains many obser- 
vations accordant with the last sentence in this 
letter: his mind naturally recurred often with fond 
and mournful recollections to Cornwall. But he 
endeavored to check such thoughts as savoring too 
much "of earthliness and discontent" — "knowing 
that he ought to be happy wherever God had 
placed him;" and "being sure that the exchange he 
was soon to make of college for a stormy ocean, and 
the burning plains of India, would not be very 
pleasant to the flesh." — 

The happiness Mr. Martyn enjoyed in prosecuting 
his ministerial vocation, received at this time a won- 
derful increase: whilst suffering the will of God 
with the meek resignation of faith, he was enabled 
to do it with all the delightful fervency of love. 
"Blessed be God," he found reason to say, with 
exceeding joy and gratitude, "I feel myself to be his 
minister. This thought, which I can hardly describe, 
came in the morning after reading Brainerd. I wish 
for no service but the service of God, in laboring for 
spuls on earth, and to do his will in heaven." — As 
far as the external duties of his office were con- 
cerned, only this variation occurred: he became 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 97 

extremely diligent in the humble but most impor- 
tant work of catechising children; giving sometimes 
a great part of his evenings to the task, and leaving 
the society he most valued for the sake of it. He 
determined likewise upon preaching more frequently 
extempore — (for he had already at times adopted 
the practice,) partly from thinking it upon the 
whole more profitable to himself, as well as to the 
congregation; and partly from the desire of devot- 
ing the time spent in writing sermons to other pur- 
poses. He by no means, however, renounced these 
compositions. On the contrary, he enjoined it upon 
himself as a rule, never to pass a week without 
writing a sermon. 

In visiting his flock, and thus preaching from 
house to house, Mr. Martyn's perseverance kept 
pace with the heightened pleasure and satisfaction 
he experienced in his divine calling: happy how- 
ever as he was in this work and labor of love, the 
sympathies of his heart were painfully and power- 
fully called forth at many a scene of extreme mis- 
ery, and his holy sensibilities were yet more acutely- 
excited by the vice and profligacy he perpetually 
witnessed. — The following are some of several 
scenes of wretchedness with which he was conver- 
sant: — "In prayer I found my soul composed to a 
blessed and serious view of eternity — visited the 
hospital, and read the 11th chapter of John there, 
with a poor man, in whose room at the work-house 
Lwas struck with the misery that presented itaelft 



98 MEMOIR OF 

He was lying "with his clothes and hat on upon the 
bed dying. His wife was cleaning the room as if 
nothing was the matter; and on the threshold was 
the daughter, about thirty years old, who had been 
delirious thirteen years. Her mother said, that the 
poor creature sometimes talked of religion: so I 
asked her several times before I could arrest her 
attention, who came into the world to save sinners* 
After several wild looks, she hastily answered 
^Christ;' and then talked on as before. The dying 
man was almost insensible to any thing I could say* 
He had formerly been a respectable innkeeper in 
the town; but the extravagance of a son brought 
him to poverty, and his daughter who foresaw it, 
to insahity ." — "In the afternoon, I enjoyed solemn 
thoughts in prayer, and visited several people; 
amongst them one poor penitent, with whom I had 
prayed the day before. The desires she expressed 
amidst her tears were, that God would change her 
heart, and forgive her, and take her to his mercy. 
If it was his will she wished to leave this world. 
But, what 5 if she should live, I asked her: she said, 
she could not say she should not sin, as she was con- 
stantly liable; but rather than turn to her former 
ways, she would be cut in pieces. I was much af- 
fected with pity, and preached the Gospel of peace 
with great delight to her." At another time when 
a friend had given him a lamentable account of the 
gross misconduct of a woman who had made a pro- 
fession of religion, "the consideration," he said, quite 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 99 

shallowed up my other thoughts, and brought me 
to a tender grief and godly sorrow. I went to 
Church, ruminating on it, and could almost say,, 
^rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because men 
keep not thy law.' O that I could feel more sensi- 
bly the dishonor done to God, and to his Christ, and 
to his Gospel; and the ruin she is bringing on her 
soul." And, on hearing the same day of the death 
of one whom he had remembered in innocence, and 
in the bloom of health and beauty; and who died 
after a very short career of vice, the account was 
too much for him; "my heart," said he, was ready 
to burst. When I thought of the man who had; 
seduced her, and then of many in the University, 
who had behaved with extraordinary effrontery at 
church, my soul groaned within me. O my God, 
it is enough — hasten, O hasten the day when I shall 
leave the world, and come to Thee; when I shall 
no more be vexed, and astonished, and pained at the 
universal wickedness of this lost earth. But here 
would I abide thy time, and spend and be spent for 
the salvation of any poor soul, and; lie down at the 
feet of sinners, and beseech them not to plunge into 
an eternity of torment," 

How honorable and what a delight the Sabbath 
was to Mr. Martyn we have already seen; it might 
be called with him "a kind of transfiguration* day. 
when his garments shone with peculiar lustre."— 

* Gilpin's Monument of Parental Affection. 



100 MEiMOIR OF 

Can it be deemed irrelevant then to advert a^ain to 
the state of his mind, as delineated by himself 
during some of those sacred seasons at this time? 

Sept. 30. — "My mind, this morning, easily ascend- 
ed to God in peaceful solemnity. I succeeded in 
finding access to God and being alone with him. — 
Could I but enjoy this life of faith more steadily, 
how much should I 'grow in grace,' and be renewed 
in the spirit of my mind. At such seasons of fel- 
lowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, 
when the world, and self, and eternity are nearly 
in their right places, not only are my views of duty 
clear and comprehensive, but the proper motives 
have a more constraining influence." — Oct. 28. 
"This has been in general a happy day. In the 
morning, through grace, I was enabled by prayer 
to maintain a calm recollection of myself — and what 
was better the presence of my dear Redeemer. 
From church I walked to our garden, where I was 
above an hour, I trust with Christ, speaking to him 
chiefly of my future life in his service. I deter* 
mined on entire devotedness, though 'with tremb- 
ling;' for the flesh dreads crucifixion. But should 
1 fear pain, when Christ was so agonized for me? 
No-— come what will, I am determined, through 
God, to be a fellow worker with Christ. I recol- 
lected, with comfort, that I was speaking to the 
great Creator, who can make such a poor weak 
worm as myself more than conqueror. At church 
I found, by the attention of the people, that the 



REV. HE2CRY MARTYX. 101 

fervor of ruy spirit yesterday had been conveyed 
into my sermon. I came to my rooms, rejoicing to 
be alone again, and to hold communion with God." 
— Dec. 9. "This has been in general a sweet and 
blessed day — a foretaste of my eternal Sabbath, 
Preached on the third commandment; in the af- 
ternoon on the tenth. Rode back to Cambridge s 
feeling quite willing to go any where, or suffer any 
thing for God. Preached in Trinity Church, on 
Ezek. xxxiii, 1 1. 'Say unto them, as I live, saith 
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of 
the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way 
and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for 
why will ye die, O house of Israel?' It was pleasant 
to me to think of being alone again with God." 

The year 1804 closed with Mr. Martyn's being 
a third time selected as one of the examiners in 
St. John's. On fulfilling which office, he speaks 
of his "soul drawing near to God, whilst in the 
hall; and of a sacred impression being upon his 
mind during the examination." — "Several of the 
poetical images in Virgil," in which he had been 
examining, "especially those taken from nature, 
together with the sight of the moon rising over 
the venerable walls, and sending its light through 
the painted glass, turned away his thoughts from 
present things, and raised them to God. His soul 
was stirred up to renewed resolutions to live a life 
of entire independence of earthly comforts, though 
he felt that the flesh was verv weak" 
*9 



102 MEMOIR OF 

The last day of the year found him "rejoicing 
at the lapse of time, but sorrowing at his unprofit- 
ableness." "So closes," he remarks, "the easy 
part of my life; encircled by every earthly com- 
fort, and caressed by friends, I may scarcely be 
said to have experienced trouble; but now fare- 
well ease, if I might presume to conjecture. O 
Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit! Thou 
hast redeemed me, thou God of truth: may I be 
saved by thy grace, and be sanctified to do thy 
will, now, and to all eternity, through Jesus 
Christ." His reflections on the following day, 
the first of that year which was his last in England, 
carry with them a peculiar interest, as well from 
their intrinsic excellence, as from the circumstances 
under which they were indited. — Jan, 1, 1805. — 
"Hitherto hath the Lord helped me. It is now 
about five years since God stopped me in the career 
of worldliness, and turned me from the paths of sin: 
three years and a half since I turned to the Lord 
with all my heart: and a little more than two years 
since he enabled me to devote myself to )iis service 
as a Missionary. My progress of late has become 
slower than it had been; yet I can truly say, that in 
the course of this time, every successive year, every 
successive week, has been happier than the former. 
From many dangerous snares hath the Lord pre- 
served me: in spite of all my inward rebellion, he 
hath carried on his work in my heart; and in spite 
,pf all my unbelieving fears, he hath given me a hope 



REV. HENRY MARTY!*, 103 

full of immortality — ; he hath set my foot on a rock, 
and established my goings, and hath put a new song 
into my mouth, even praises to my God.' It is the 
beginning of a critical year to me; yet I feel little 
apprehension. The same grace and long suffering, 
the same wisdom and power, that have brought me 
so far, will bring me on, though it be through fire 
and water to a goodly heritage. I see no business 
before me in life but the work of Christ, neither do 
I desire any employment to all eternity but his 
service. I am a sinner saved by grace. Every 
day's experience convinces me of this truth* My 
daily sins, and constant corruption, leave me no 
hope but that which is founded on God's mercy in 
Christ. His Spirit, I trust, is imparted, and is re- 
newing my nature — as I desire much, though I have 
attained but little. Now to God, the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, would I solemnly renew my self- 
dedication to be his servant forever." 

Towards the end of January, a sudden summons 
to leave England in ten days caused some perturba- 
tion in Mr. Martyn's spirits. Short, however, as 
the notice was, he would instantly have complied 
with it had he been in Priest's orders, which legally 
he could not be till the 18th February, when he 
completed his twenty-fourth year. 

That solemn and most impressive rite of admis- 
sion to the function and privileges of a Presbyter 
of the Church of England, w T as administered to him, 
'Who had well "performed the office of a Deacon," at 



104 MEMOIR OF 

St. James's Chapel, London, in the month of March: 
after which, he received the degree of Bachelor of 
Divinity, conferred upon him by mandate from the 
University, when nothing remained to detain him 
any longer at Cambridge. 

At the thoughts of his departure, he confesses 
that the flesh betrayed its weakness, but he did 
not regret having resigned the world; life he knew 
was but a short journey — a little day, and then, if 
faithful unto death, his gracious reward would 
begin. Happily for him, such was the divine 
goodness and mercy, he was, at this moment, more 
than ever persuaded of his being truly called of God 
to preach .the Gospel to the Heathen. "I rejoice 
to say, (he wrote to his youngest sister) that I never 
had so clear a conviction of my call as at present — 
as far as respects the inward impression. Never 
did I see so much the exceeding excellency and 
glory and sweetness of the work, nor had so much 
the favorable testimony of my own conscience, nor. 
perceived so pi; inly the smile of God. I am con- 
strained to say — what am I ? or what is my father's 
house, that I*. should be made willing — what am I 
that I should be so happy, so honored?": J-n hi6 
Journal likewise, he expresses himself to the same 
effect: "I felt more persuaded of my call than ever; 
there was scarcely the shadow of a doubt left — 
'rejoice, O my soul' — thou shalt be the servant of 
God in this life, and in the next for all the boundless 
ages of eternity." gk 



REV. HENRY MARTYN, 105 

A remarkable spirit of supplication likewise was 
in this hour of need poured out upon him, and the 
sure word of prophecy predicting the glory of the 
latter times, was as the dawning of the day and the 
rising of the day-star in his heart. "I could not," he 
remarks, "help reflecting on the almost supernat- 
ural fervor and deep devotion which came upon me, 
whilst I declared I had rightfully no other business 
each day but to do God's work as a servant, con- 
stantly regarding his pleasure." "My thoughts 
were full of what God would do for his own glory, 
in the conversion of multitudes to himself in the 
latter day. I did not wish to think about myself in 
any respect, but found it a precious privilege to 
45tand by a silent admirer of God's doings." 

To be removed for ever from many dear friends, 
and from a congregation who "esteemed him very 
highly in love for his work's sake," would have 
greatly afflicted one of far less affection than that 
which animated the breast of Mr. Martyn. As 
for him, his sufferings on this occasion were most 
severe. Those of his flock likewise were no less 
so: they could willingly have renewed the touch- 
ing scene once beheld at Miletus, "sorrowing as 
they did for the -words that he spake, that they 
should see his face no more." One old man, to 
adduce no other instance of their undissembled 
regard and poignant regret, could not refrain from 
coming to him, that he might commend him sol- 
emnly to God in prayer: and when he delivered 



106 MEMOIR OP 

his farewell discourse in Trinity Church, on these 
words, (2 Sam. vii, 27—29,) "For thou, O Lord 
of Hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy ser- 
vant, saying, I will build thee an house; therefore 
hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this 
prayer unto thee. And now, O Lord God, thou 
art that God, and thy words be true, and thou 
hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: there- 
fore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy 
servant, that it may contiiue forever before thee: 
for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy 
blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for 
ever;" the whole assembly was dissolved in grief — 
thus testifying by their tears, that their attachment 
to him was equalled only by their admiration of his 
character. 

On the 3rd of April, the day after he had. 
preached his valedictory sermon, Mr. Martyn quit^ 
ted for ever the place which had been "the dear 
abode cf his youth" — in which he had obtained no 
moderate portion of honor and reputation — and in 
which, had he deemed it right to remain, he might 
have acquired that ample share of emolument, 
which talents such as his never fail to secure. At 
such a moment he would have been glad to have, 
been left to uninterrupted meditation; but many 
young students happened to accompany him on his 
journey, and he thought it his duty to enter. into 
religious conversation with them for their benefit. — 
"At intervals however,*' said he. "I meditated and 



REV. tlENRY MARTYR. 107 

prayed — the coldness and ingratitude of my wicked 
heart made me feel loathsome to myself, and I 
longed but for one thing, which was, to be delivered 
from all my iniquity." 

The day after his arrival in London, other nat- 
ural feelings were called into exercise; feelings 
which it is the design of the Gospel to moderate, 
but not suppress. Some hymns sung in the evening, 
at the worship of that family where he was most 
hospitably received, recalling Cambridge to his re- 
membrance^ affected him to tears, and as he dwelt 
with melancholy pleasure on its past delights, all his 
dear Christian friends in it seemed doubly inter- 
esting. 

During the two months Mr. Martyn was resident 
in London, he considered that he could not better 
employ his time, than by devoting it to the attain- 
ment of the Hindoostanee language, and having the 
advantage of being assisted by a gentleman 5 * emi- 
nently competent to direct him, he was incessant in 
his endeavors to obtain that necessary qualification 
for an Indian Missionary. In order also that he 
might correct some defects in his speech, he at the 
same time deemed it incumbent on him to attend 
several lectures on pronunciation: for nothing did he 
disdain which, tending to render his ministry more 
acceptable, might conduce to the glory of God. In 
the delivery of the great message committed to 

• Mr. Gilchrist. 



108 MEMOIR OF 

him as an ambassador of Christ, he was at this time 
by no means remiss. — During the short period of 
his abode in London, he often preached; occupying 
the pulpit principally at St. John's Chapel, Bedford 
Row, then under the care of the late Rev. Richard 
Cecil, from whose holy example and faithful advice 
Mr. Martyn conceived himself to have derived the 
most substantial and lasting benefit. Nor was he 
without another high gratification and privilege — 
that of being introduced to the aged and venerable 
Mr. Newton, who, expecting soon "to be gathered 
to his people," rejoiced to give this young minister, 
about to proceed on his sublime embassy of love, 
his paternal counsel and benediction. 

An intercourse with such men as Mr. Newton and 
Mr. Cecil was more than a compensation to Mr. 
Martyn for his detention in London, and for the un- 
easiness of that period of uncertainty and delay, 
which is almost as oppressive to the spirits as the 
moment of actual departure. — But if he received 
unmingled satisfaction and abiding profit from the 
conversation he enjoyed with those eminent Chris- 
tians, there were others with whom he conferred, 
who, "seeming to be somewhat, in conference added 
nothing to him," but, on the contrary were the 
occasion to him of some disquietude. Once, indeed, 
these very persons were in the habit of manifesting 
great cordiality towards him: but now they began 
to slight him, and in his presence were continually 
raising disparaging comparisons between him and 



REV. HENRY MARTYa. 109 

certain preachers, whose theological sentiments, if 
not erroneous, were at least far too exclusive, and 
whose strain of doctrine, in Mr. Mart jn's judgment, 
was more calculated to produce ill-grounded confi- 
dence, than righteousness and true holiness. Inter- 
views of this kind he endured rather than enjoyed: 
they are to be ranked amongst his trials, and not 
placed on the side of his comforts. 

The subject of his union, likewise, with that 
excellent person, on whom his affections were so 
unalterably fixed, became now a matter of consid- 
eration and discussion amongst some of his more 
intimate friends: and their difference of opinion 
respecting the propriety of the measure, should it 
ever be attainable, caused no small tumult and an- 
guish in his heart. 

On the other hand, there were two events, the 
prospect of which was of the most cheering com- 
plexion.-^one, the satisfactory marriage of his young- 
est sister — the other, a hope of being soon followed 
to India by two of his friends, who strengthened, if 
not excited, by his example, declared their willing- 
ness to go forth and labor with him in that distant 
vineyard. 

But as it may administer much profitable, as well 
as encouraging matter to those who may hereafter 
tread in the footsteps of Mr. Martyn, his Journal 
shall speak for him at some length during the inter- 
val between his quitting Cambridge and preparing 
to sail from England. 
10 



110 MEMOIR OF 

April 10. — "Walked out to buy books, and strove 
to be diligent in thinking of my subject.* When 
I got into the spirit of it, Christ appeared at times 
inexpressibly precious to me. 

April 14. — Sunday. "I felt very unconcerned 
about men's opinions, before and after my sermon. 
Before it, I could solemnly appeal to God, and found 
comfort and pleasure in doing so, that I desired his 
glory alone — that I detested the thought of seeking 
my own praise, or taking pleasure in hearing it. 
The rest of the evening I continued in a very 
ardent frame; but, in private, I was taught by 
former experience to labor after a calm and sober 
devotedness to God, and that my fervor might shew 
itself in a steady course of action. My soul felt 
growing in holiness nigh unto the blessed God, with 
my understanding, will, and affections turned towards 
him. Surely many of the children of God have 
been praying for me to-day. May the Lord return 
their prayers tenfold into their own bosom." — 

April 1 5. — "O may God confirm my feeble reso- 
lutions! O what have I to do but labor, and pray, 
and fast, and watch for the salvation of my soul, and 
those of the heathen world. Ten thousand times 
more than ever do I feel devoted to that precious 
work. O gladly shall this base blood be shed, every 
drop of it, if India can be benefited in one of her 
children — if but one of these creatures of God 
Almighty might be brought home to his duty." — 

* The subject he chose in the morning for meditation. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 



Ill 



April 16. — "How careful should I and all be, in 
our ministry, not to break the bruised reed! Alas, do 
I think that a schoolboy, a raw academic, should be 
likely to lead the hearts of men? what a knowledge 
of man, and acquaintance with the Scriptures, what 
communion with God, and study of my own heart, 
ought to prepare me for the awful work of a mes- 
senger from God on the business of the soul.*' — 

April 22. — "I do not wish for any heaven upon 
earth besides that of preaching the precious Gospel 
of Jesus Christ to immortal souls. May these weak 
desires increase and strengthen with every diffi- 
culty."— 

April 27. — "My constant unprofitableness seemed 
to bar my approach to God. But I considered for 
all that was past, the blood of Christ would atone; 
and that, for the future, God would that moment 
give me grace to perform my ducy." — 

May 7. — "Went in the evening to hear * * *. He 
was on the same subject as always, but without va- 
riety. I confess 1 was dissatisfied, not only because 
I could fix. on nothing that could edify me, but be- 
cause I could not but think that there was nothing 
to offend or detect carnal professors." — - 

May 9. — "O my soul, when wilt thou live con- 
sistently? When shall I walk steadily with God? 
When shall I hold heaven constantly in view? 
How time glides away — how is death approaching 
— how soon must I give up my account — how are 
souls perishing — how does their blood call out to 



-112 MEMOIR OF 

us to labor, and watch, and pray for them that 
remain." 

May 16. — "I went down with Captain M. to 
Deptford. Passing through an inn which was 
close to the water's side, I came at once, to my 
great surprise, close to the Indiaman before I was 
aware of it. The sudden sight of the water and 
of the ship affected me almost to tears. My emo- 
tions were mixed, — partly of joy, and partly of 
trembling apprehension at my now being so soon to 
go away." 

May 18. — "Happening to look over some of my 
farewell sermons at Cambridge, I was affected to 
tears." 

May 22. — "Heard Mr. Crowther preach. At 
first I could not enter into those humiliating views 
which I knew I ought to have; but, by stirring up 
myself to attend, and to mix faith with what he 
said, and by turning every sentence into a petition, 
I got great good to my soul." 

May 24. — "I felt more than I ever did in my life 
the shame attending poverty; nothing but the re- 
membrance that I was not to blame, supported me: 
whatever comes to me in the way of Providence is 
and must be for my good. Dined at * * *, where I 
could plainly see I was scarcely a welcome guest: 
■the neglect of me was too plain to be unnoticed. 
The weakness of my human nature would have ex- 
pressed itself had I not looked up to God, and 
prayed for a sight of my desert of the scorn of men. 



REV. HENRY MARTYX. 113 

The conversation amongst these high professors was 
of course about * * *. One said to me, his sermons 
are not fine and eloquent, but spiritual — alluding to 
the first of mine which he had heard." 

May 30.— "Read Brainerd. I feel my heart knit 
to this dear man, and really rejoice to think of 
meeting him in heaven." 

June 1* — "Memory has been at work to unnerve 
my soul; but reason, and honor, and love to Christ 
and souls shall prevail — Amen. God help me." 

June 2. — Whitsunday. "My dear Redeemer is 
a fountain of life to my soul. With resignation, and 
peace, can I look forward to a life of labor and 
entire seclusion from earthly comforts, while Jesus 
thus stands near me, changing .me into his own holy 
image." 

June 6. — "God's interference in supporting me 
continually, appears to me like a miracle." 

June 7. — "I have not felt such heart-rending pain 
since I parted with * * * in Cornwall. But the 
Lord brought me to consider the folly and wicked- 
ness of ail this. I could not help saying — Go, Hin- 
doos — go on in your misery — let Satan still rule over 
you; for he that was appointed to labor among you, 
is consulting his ease. — No, thought I — rhell and 
earth shall never keep me back from my work. I 
am cast down, but not destroyed., I began to con- 
sider why I was so uneasy — 'Cast thy care upon 
him, for he careth for you.' 'In every thing by 
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your 
*10 



J 14 MEMOIR OF 

requests be made known to God;' — these promise^ 
were sweetly fulfilled before long to Hie." 

June 8. — "My heart was sometimes ready to 
break with agony. At other times, I was visited 
by a few moments of sublime and enraptured joy. 
Such is the conflict. "W hy have my friends mention- 
ed this subject? It has torn open old wounds, and I 
am again bleeding." 

June 13. — "Had I a more tender sense of mercy, 
I should have delighted to write on the subject I 
had chosen. Yet it is very sweet to be desiring 
such a state. I would wish, like Mary, to be weep 
ing at the feet of Jesus." 

June 15. — "Shed tears to-night at the thoughts 
of my departure. I thought of the roaring seas 
which would soon be rolling between me and all 
that is dear to me upon earth." 

June 23.— "The grief of the Misses * * *, at the 
departure of their brother for India, called forth 
some of my natural feelings. Had I been going from 
necessity, it would almost break my heart. But I go, 
from choice, into a part of the vineyard where my 
dearest friend will be present. On the subject of 
the mission, I seemed assisted to unfold my heart 
unto the Lord, and to pray for his mighty protec- 
tion in the fiery trial which is about to try me." 

June 26. — "I heard something about Swartz 
to day, which struck me much — his simple mode of 
living." 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 115 

June 28. — "Was much struck and affected with 
the words of a Hottentot woman, quoted in Mr. 
Biddulph's sermon. How happy and honored am I, 
in being suffered to be a Missionary." 

July 4th. — "Mr. Cecil shewed me a letter in 
Swartz's own hand- writing. Its contents were of a 
very experimental* nature— applicable to my case. 
The life of faith in Jesus is what I want. My soul 
may almost burst with astonishment at its own 
wickedness; but, at the same time, trusting to 
mercy, rise and go, and try to make men happy. 
The Lord go with me! Let my right hand forget 
her cunning, if I remember not Jerusalem above my 
chief joy." 

After delivering a sermon to the congregation at 
St. John's, upon Acts xx, 32; "And now, brethren, 
I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, 
which is able to build you up, and to give you an 
inheritance among all them that are sanctified," on 
the 8th of July, Mr. Martyn left London for Ports- 
mouth; and such was the acuteness of his feelings 
during this journey, that he fainted, and fell into a 
convulsion fit, at the inn where he slept on the 
road: a painful intimation to those friends who were 
with him, of the poignancy of that grief which he 
endeavored as much as possible to repress and 
conceal. The next morning, however, he was sufti- 

* It were much to be wished, that very large extracts from Mr. Swartz's 
Correspondence with the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge were 
published. Much Avould doubtless be found there "applicable to the c:»se" of 
Christians io general, and of Ministers and Missionar.es in particular. 



1-16 MEMOIR OF 

ciently recovered to proceed, and was much re- 
freshed in his spirits at the sight of many of his 
brethren at Portsmouth, who had come (several 
from a considerable distance) that they might affec- 
tionately accompany him to the ship. Among these, 
was one whose presence afforded him an unex- 
pected happiness. "To be obliged to give up all 
hopes of your accompanying me to Portsmouth/' 
(he had written a short time before to Mr. Sim- 
eon,) "is a greater disappointment than I can well 
describe. Having been led to expect it, 1 seemed to 
experience a painful privation. However, you will 
not now have the pain of observing in your broth- 
er a conversation and spirit unsuitable to the impor- 
tant work on which he is going. Yet this I believe, 
that though I have little affection towards heavenly 
things, I have less towards every thing earthly." 
From Mr. Simeon he learnt, to his exceeding com- 
fort, that his flock at Cambridge intended on the 
day of his departure, as far as it could be ascertain- 
ed, to give themselves up to fasting and prayer — 
and at his hands he received, with peculiar gratifica- 
tion, a silver compass, sent by them, as a memorial 
of their unfeigned affection: for which the following 
letter is expressive of his acknowledgments: — 



Portsmouth, July 11, 1805. 

"my dearest brethren, 
"I write in great haste to thank you most affection- 
ately for the token of your love, which our dear 






REV. HENRY MARTYN. 117 

brother and minister has given me from you. O 
may my God richly recompense you for your great 
affection! May he reward your prayers for me, by 
pouring tenfold blessings into your own bosoms! 
May he bless you with all spiritual blessings in 
Christ Jesus! At the command of God, as I believe, 
I shall, in a few hours, embark for those regions 
where your little present may be of use to me, in 
guiding my way through the trackless desert. I 
pray that the word of God, which is your compass, 
may, through the Spirit, direct your path through 
the wilderness of this world, and bring you in safety 
to the better country above. I beg your prayers, 
and assure you of mine. Remember me some- 
times at your social meetings, and particularly at 
that which you hold on the Sabbath morning. Pray 
not only for my sinful soul, that I may be kept faith- 
ful unto death; but, especially, for the souls of the 
poor Heathen. Whether I live, or die, let Christ 
be magnified by the ingathering of multitudes to 
himself. I have macy trials awaiting me, and so 
have you; but that covenant of grace, in which we 
are interested, provides for the weakest, and secures 
our everlasting welfare. Farewell, dear brethren! 
May God long continue to you the invaluable labors 
of your beloved minister: and may you, with the 
blessing of God on his ministry, grow day by day in 
all spirituality and humility of mind, till God, in his 
mercy, shall call you each in his own time, to the 
eternal enjoyment of his glory/' 



118 MEMOIR OF 

The few days Mr. Martjn remained at Ports- 
mouth were spent in conversing with his brethren 
on the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, 
in social supplication and thanksgiving. His 
prayer, on the day he expected finally to quit the 
shores of England, will not easily be forgotten by 
those who bowed their knees together with him to 
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: it 
ascended to the "lofty One," from the lowest depths 
of humiliation, and it breathed the most entire de- 
votedness of body, soul, and spirit to his service. 
His whole demeanor, indeed, could not fail of 
tenderly affecting, as well as indelibly impressing 
their hearts and minds. One of those then pre- 
sent, who little thought that the task he now so 
inadequately attempts to execute would ever be 
assigned him, well remembers his own sensations 
on that most trying but triumphant occasion; and 
how completely every thought within him was ab- 
sorbed in admiration of the astonishing grace 
bestowed on his friend, and in bitter regret at 
being for ever to be deprived of his society. — Nor 
let it be here surmised, that Mr. Martyn's sacrifices 
and sufferings have been magnified, from being 
contemplated through a medium, raised by the 
fond and ill-judging partiality of friendship. His 
situation as a chaplain to the East India Company, 
it is readily admitted, was an eligible, or, as it 
might be deemed, an enviable station. But this, 
so far as worldly prospects are concerned, would 






REV. HENRY MARTYN. 119 

have been contemptible in his eyes when placed in 
competition with the poorest curacy in Cornwall 
And it ought not to be forgotten, in our estimate 
of his privations, that, although he was not the 
only one of the many sailing with him from the 
happy land of their nativity, who clung to it with 
ardency of affection, and parted from it with the 
most lively sorrow, without disparaging their mo- 
tives, those by which he was actuated were solely 
of a spiritual kind: they too, it must be remembered, 
were cheered with the hope of one day shedding 
the tears of joy, where then they were pouring forth 
those of sadness — but no such distant gleam streaked 
Mr. Martyn's horizon. He went forth to preach 
the Gospel to the Heathen, and it was his fixed 
resolution to live and die amongst them. When he 
left England, he left it wholly for Chris? s sake, and 
he left it for ever. 

On the 17th day of July, the Union East India- 
man, which was to convey Mr. Martyn to Calcutta, 
sailed from Portsmouth, in company with a large N 
fleet under command of Captain Byng, and two days 
afterwards came to an anchor in the port of Fal- 
mouth. Xx\ extract of a letter written from this 
place to Mr. Simeon, feelingly depicts Mr. Martyn's 
sensations, when rising on the morning of the 17th 
he found that his voyage was really commenced:— 
;t It was a very painful moment to me when I awoke 
en the morning after you left us, and found the fleet 
actually sailing down the channel. Though it was 



120 MEMOIR OP 

what I had anxiously been looking forward to so 
long, yet the consideration of being parted for ever 
from my friends, almost overcame me. My feelings 
were those of a man who should suddenly be told, 
that every friend he had in the world was dead. 
It was only by prayer for them that I could be 
comforted; and this was indeed a refreshment to 
my soul, because by meeting them at the throne of 
grace, I seemed again to be in their society." 

The arrival of the fleQt at Falmouth was an event 
wholly unforeseen by Mr. Martyn, who was some- 
what agitated "at the singularity of the providence 
of God, in leading him once more into the bosom of 
all his friends." "May the Lord," said he, "glorify 
himself in this and in every other dispensation!" 
— How trying this dispensation was to him, it will 
not require many quotations from his Journal to de- 
monstrate. From these it will be evident, that de- 
lightful as it was to him once more to land upon the 
shores, where he had sported gaily in his infancy, 
find meditated divinely in maturer age, it would 
have been far happier for him had a storm in the 
night hurried him past his beloved Cornwall. But 
God, who doeth all things well, manifestly intended 
to strengthen his faith, by putting it to a severe 
exercise. 

July 29. — "I was much engaged at intervals in 
learning the hymn, 'The God of Abraham praise;' 
as often as I could use the language of it with any 
truth, my heart was a little at ease. 






REV. HENRY MARTYR. \% I 

'The God of Abraham praise, 
At whose supreme command 
From earth I rise and seek the joys 

At his right hand; 
I all on earth forsake, 
Its wisdom, fame, and power; 
And him my only portion make, 

My shield and tower.' 

"There was something peculiarly solemn and affect- 
ing to me in this hymn, and particularly at this time. 
The truth of the sentiments I knew well enough. 
But, alas! I felt that the state of mind expressed in 
it was above mine at the time, and I felt loth to 
forsake all on earth. 

"Not being able to reach the ship, I slept at a 
little public-house on the road, where I lay down in 
the most acute mental misery; and rose, the next 
morning, disturbed and unrefreshed. The morning 
was beautifully serene, but on account of the tem- 
pest within, that very circumstance was disgusting to 
me. A dark and stormy day would have been 
more in unison with my feelings." 

"I went on board in extreme anguish, and found 
an opportunity in the sloop by which I passed to the 
ship, to cry, with brokenness of spirit, to the Lord. 
The words 'Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speak- 
est, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my 
judgment is passed over from my God?' were 
brought to my mind with such force, that I burst 
into a flood of tears: and felt much relieved in my 
soul, that God was thus compassionate, and the 
blessed Lord Jesus a merciful and compassionate 
11 



122 MEMOIR OF 

High Priest, who condescended to sympathise with 
me. In the afternoon, it pleased God to give me a 
holy and blessed season in prayer, in which my soul 
recovered much of its wonted peace." — Thus did 
God, in answer to prayer, in some measure refresh 
his soul. An attempt, also, which he made to com- 
fort another person in the ship with him, served to 
invigorate his own drooping spirit. "They stood 
together," as he represents it, "looking anxiously at 
the raging sea, and sighed to think of the happy 
societies of God's people, who (as it was the Sab- 
bath day) were then joining in sweet communion in 
public worship." But the topics of consolation 
which Mr. Martyn endeavored to bring before his 
disconsolate companion, had a happy reaction on his 
own mind — whilst cheering him he was cheered 
himself, and "the blessed Spirit of God applied the 
blood of Jesus to cleanse away his sin, and restore 
him to comfort;" and at night he could commit him- 
self to rest, "tossed," as he expresses it, "by the roar- 
ing surge, but composed and peaceful with the 
everlasting arms underneath him." 

During his detention for about three weeks at 
Falmouth, he preached several times in the ship, as 
well as on shore: and, amongst other texts, he ad- 
dressed his hearers from that most appropriate 
one, "Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 
power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go 
ve therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 



RET. HENRY MARTYN. 123 

the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo! 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world. Amen." Matt, xxviii, 18 — 20. A sermon 
from Mr. Martyn on those words of Scripture, was 
well calculated to produce a powerful effect on the 
minds of his audience; for the very circumstance of 
his coming amongst them, shewed that "the kingdom 
of God was not in word, but in power." 

On the 10th of August, the signal was made for 
the ships to sail, at which time having been de- 
ceived in the information communicated to him con- 
cerning the continuance of the fleet in port, Mr. 
Martyn was absent at the distance of twenty miles 
in the country. The express announcing this mis- 
take was like a thunder- stroke to him: but by 
making all possible dispatch, he contrived to reach 
the Union just in time. That ship, as if by the 
appointment of Providence, had met with an acci- 
dent on clearing out of the harbor, which impeded 
her progress, whilst almost all the others were 
under weigh. The commander, as he passed, ex- 
pressed his displeasure at her delay: but Mr. Mar- 
tyn discovered the high and gracious hand of God 
in this event, and "blessed him for haviP£ thus 
saved his poor creature from shame and trouble." 
"So delusive," to adopt his own reflections, "are 
schemes of pleasure! At nine in the morning, I was 
sitting at ease with the person dearest to me upon 
earth, intending to go out with her afterwards to see 



124 MEMOnt OF 

different views, to visit some persons with her, and 
preach on the morrow; four hours only elapsed, and 
I was under sail from England." 

The anxiety Mr. Martyn had Mt to reach his 
ship, and the joy he experienced at having effected 
his object, for a time absorbed other sorrowful con- 
siderations: but when left a little at leisure, his 
spirits, as he acknowledges, began to sink. "He 
seemed backward, also, to draw near to God, and 
though when he did so, he found relief, he was still 
slow to flee to the refuge of his weary soul." — 

Unhappily for him, during the whole of the 10th, 
and for the greater part of the succeeding day, 
Cornwall Avas in sight; and who is there endued 
with the sensibilities of our common nature, but 
must have been subjected to the most painful emo- 
tions, whilst slowly passing for the last time along a 
coast, where every object which caught the eye— ■» 
every headland — every building — every wood, serv- 
ed to remind him of endearments that were past, 
and of pleasures never to be renewed? 

That Apostle, who professed that he was "ready 
not to be bound only, but to die at Jerusalem, for 
the name of the Lord Jesus," exclaimed also — • 
"what mean ye to weep and break my heart?" And 
he, too, when sailing to Rome, along the "sea of 
Cilicia," may well be supposed to have looked 
mournfully towards the region of his nativity, and 
to have thought with pain on Tarsus. 



REV. HENRY MARTVX. 125 

But Mr. Martyn's own hand shall portray his feel- 
ings. — Sunday, August 11. "I rose dejected, and 
extremely weak in body. After simply crying to 
God for mercy and assistance, I preaohed on Heb. 
xi, 16: — 'But, now, they desire a better country, 
that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed 
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for 
them a city.' On repeating the text a second time, 
I could scarcely refrain from bursting into tears. 
For the Mount and St. Hilary spire, and trees were 
just discernible by the naked eye at the time I be- 
gan my sermon, by saying that now the shores of 
England were receding fast from our view, and that 
we had taken a long, many of us, an everlasting fare- 
well, &€. We had made little way during the 
night, and so in the morning I was pleased to find 
we were in Mount's Bay, midway between the 
Lands-End and the Lizard, and I was often with 
my glass recalling those beloved scenes — till after 
tea, when ascending the poop, I found they had dis- 
appeared: but this did not prevent my praying for 
all on shore. Amidst the extreme gloom of my 
mind this day I found great pleasure, at seasons of 
prayer, in interceding earnestly for my beloved 
friends all over England.'' 

The dejection of mind of which Mr. Mai [yn here 
speaks, and which returned the next day with an 
overpowering influence, was evidently combined 
with, and augmented by much bodily infirmity, and 
no doubt would have been alleviated by the svtnpa* 
*11 



126 MEMOtR OF 

thizing intercourse of a companion in tribulation, and 
in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. The 
original injunction given to the seventy, was given 
by him who knew what was in man, and who there- 
fore sent them "two and two before his face into 
every city" — for "two are better than one, because 
they have a good reward for their labor: for if they 
fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him 
that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not an- 
other to help him up.'* — Eccles. iv, 9, 10. 

"England had disappeared, and with it, all my 
peace." — "The pains of memory were all I felt.*' — 
"Ift ould I go back? O no — but how can I be sup- 
ported? my faith fails. I find, by experience, I am 
weak as water. O my dear friends in England, 
when we spoke with exultation of the mission to 
the Heathen, whilst in the midst of health, and joy, 
and hope; what an imperfect idea did we form of 
the sufferings by which it must be accomplished." 
Such were the complainings of his spirit, over- 
whelmed within him. Yet there were moments 
when he could "realize the realms of glory," and 
when "all earthly things died away in insignificance." 

On the 14th of August the fleet came to an an- 
chor in the Cove of Cork: and there, in a spiritual 
sense, Mr. Martyn found that haven where he would 
be: — there he discovered that "heaviness may en- 
dure for a night, but that joy cometh in the morn- 
ing;" and he who before had felt "poor and needy, 
with his heart wounded within him," could then say 



REV. HENRY MARTYR - . 127 

"thanks be to God, which causeth us always to 
triumph in Christ;" 2 Cor. ii, 14. — "After a long and 
blessed season in prayer, I felt, he says, the spirit of 
adoption drawing me very near to God, and giving 
me the full assurance of his love. My fervent pray- 
er was, that I might be more deeply and habitually 
convinced of his unchanging everlasting love, and 
that my whole soul might be altogether in Christ. 
I scarcely knew how to express the desires of my 
heart. I wanted to be all in Christ, and to have 
Christ for my 'all in all' — to be encircled in his ever- 
lasting arms, and to be swallowed up altogether in 
his fulness. I w 7 ish for no created good, or for men 
to know my experience; but to be one with thee, 
and live for thee, O God, my Savior and Lord. O 
may it be my constant care to live free from the 
spirit of bondage, at all times, having ciecess to the 
Father. This I feel should be the state of the 
Christian: perfect reconciliation with God, and a 
perfect appropriation of him in all his endearing at- 
tributes, according to all that lie has promised: it 
is this that shall bear me safely through the storm." 
— What is this but the happiness intended by the 
Psalmist, when he breaks forth in those words of 
sublimity and rapture: 'Blessed are the people 
which know the joyful sound — they shall walk, O 
Lord, in the light of thy countenance: in thy name 
shall they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteous- 
ness shall they be exalted.' — Psalm lxxxix, 15, 16. 



128 MElvioir, of 

At Cork, Mr. Martyn endeavored to procure 
an admission to a pulpit in the city, as well as to 
preach to the convicts going out with the fleet to 
Botany Bay, but was unsuccessful in both these 
attempts. — On board his own ship he regularly 
read prayers, and preached once every Sabbath, 
lamenting that the Captain would not permit the 
performance of more than one service. This 
being the case, his usefulness in the ship depended 
much, he conceived, upon his private ministration. 
Scarcely a day therefore passed, without his going 
between the decks; where, after assembling all 
who were willing to attend, he read to them some 
religious book, upon which he commented as he 
went on. "Some attend fixedly — others are looking 
another way — some women are employed about 
their children, attending for a little while, and then 
heedless: some rising up and going away — others 
taking their place; and numbers, especially of those 
who have been upon watch, strewed all along upon 
the deck fast asleep — one or two from the upper 
decks looking down and listening:" such is the 
picture he draws of his congregation below. — 
The situation of things above, when he perform- 
ed his weekly duty on the Sabbath, was not, ac- 
cording to his own statement, more encouraging. 
There, the opposition of some, and the inattention 
of others, put his meekness and patience very 
strongly to the test. "The passengers," as he de- 
scribes it, "were inattentive — the officers, many of 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 129 

them, sat drinking; so that he could overhear their 
noise, and the Captain was with them. His own 
soul was serious, and undisturbed by the irrever- 
ence of the hearers, and he thought he could have 
poured it out in prayer, without restraint, in defi- 
ance of their scornful gaze.*' "How melancholy 
and humiliating," he could not help adding, "is this 
mode of public ordinances on ship-board, compared 
with the respect and joy with which the multitudes 
come up to hear my brethren ashore: but this pre- 
pares me for preaching amongst the heedless Gen- 
tiles." 

On the 31st of August, after having been de- 
tained above a fortnight in the Cove of Cork, the 
fleet, consisting of fifty transports, five men of war, 
and the Indiaman, put to sea; and now again 
Mr. Martyn suffered much both in body and mind: 
he became languid and feverish, and his nights were 
sleepless — and his mental conflict was extremely 
severe. "My anguish at times," he says, "was inex- 
pressible, when I awoke from my disturbed dreams, 
to find myself actually on my way, with a long sea 
rolling between me and all I held dear in this life." 

"To describe the variety of perplexing, heart- 
rending, agonizing thoughts which passed through 
my mind, and which, united with the weakness and 
languor of my body, served to depress me into the 
depths of misery, would be impossible. The bodily 
suffering would be nothing, did not Satan improve 
his advantage, in representing the happiness and 



130 MEMOIR OF 

ease of the life I had left. However, God did not 
leave ine quite alone, poor and miserable as I was, 
I was helped to recollect several things in Scripture, 
which encouraged me to hold on. Such as 'If we 
suffer with him, we shall also reign with him;' the 
examples likewise of Moses, Abraham, and St. Paul, 
of our blessed Lord himself, and of his saints at the 
present moment. I repeated the farewell discourse 
of St. Paul, and endeavored to think how he would 
act in mj situation. I thought of all God's people 
looking out after me with expectation; following me 
W T ith their wishes and prayers. I thought of the 
holy angels, some of whom perhaps were guarding 
me on my way; and of God, and of Christ, approv- 
ing my course and mission. 'Who will go for me? — 
here am I — send me.' I thought of the millions of 
precious souls that now and in future ages might be 
benefited." — By such considerations as these, by 
prayer — by reciting Scripture — by praying over 
it — by casting himself simply upon Christ — and by 
looking upon pain and suffering as his daily portion 
(which thought wonderfully served to tranquillize 
his mind,) Mr. Martyn was carried through a season 
of great tribulation, when he might almost have 
adopted the words of the Psalmist, "Thou hast 
laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 
Thine indignation lieih hard upon me, and thou hast 
afflicted me with all il\y waves;" Psalm Ixxxviii, 6, 7. 
But it is an inspired declaration, that "they that 
wait on the Lord shall renew their strength: ihev 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 131 

shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run 
and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint:'' 
nor was it long before he could affix his seal to the 
truth of this testimony. "In prayer," he says, soon 
after this, "I soon launched sweetly into eternity, 
and found joy unspeakable in thinking of my future 
rest, and of the boundless loye and joy I should ever 
taste in Christ's beloved presence hereafter. I 
found no difficulty to stir myself up to the contem- 
plation of heaven — my soul through grace, realized 
it, and I delighted to dwell by faith in those blissful 
scenes." 

Shortly after the fleet had sailed from Ireland, a 
tremendous storm arose — the first that Mr. Martyn 
had ever witnessed. During a night of general 
anxiety and consternation, his mind was kept in per- 
fect peace. "He lay, endeavoring to realize his 
speedy appearance before God in judgment — not 
indeed without sorrowful convictions of his sinful- 
ness, and supplications for mercy in the name of 
Jesus, but with a full confidence in the willingness of 
God to receive him, and a desire to depart." But 
lie was chiefly led, "to think of the many poor souls 
in the ship, and to pray that they might have a 
longer time for repentance, and that the terrors of 
that night might be of lasting benefit." In the 
morning when the vessel was going under bare poles, 
the sea covered with so thick a mist from the spray 
and rain, that nothing could be seen but the tops of 
the nearest waves, which seemed to be running over 



132 MEMOIR OF 

the windward side of the ship, he seized the oppor- 
tunity of pointing out the way of salvation to one of 
the passengers, who appeared much terrified; and 
most willingly, had circumstances permitted, would 
he have preached to the whole ship's company, 
warning them to "flee from the wrath to come, and 
to lay hold on eternal life." The Sunday following, 
he read the thanksgiving prayer after a storm. 

Mr. Marty n's voyage before this alarming tem- 
pest, had been far from expeditious. Seven weari- 
some weeks had he passed, without having proceed- 
ed farther than the latitude of the Lizard. The 
wind now began to carry him forward, and about 
the end of the month of September, he reached 
Madeira. 

His Journal during the interval between the sub- 
siding of the storm and his arrival at Porto Santo, 
contains these admirable reflections. Sept. 9. — 
"My chief concern was, that this season of peace 
might be improved: when the Lord gave David 
rest from all his enemies round about, then he be- 
gan to think of building a temple to the Lord. 
Passed the evening, many sweet hours, in reading. — 
Found a rich feast in reading Hooker's Sermons: 
the doctrines of grace are a cordial to me. We 
are now inlat. 46°. long. 12°. The sea which I am 
looking on from the port-hole is comparatively 
smooth, yet it exhibits the moonbeams only in 
broken reflections. It is thus an emblem of my 
heart — no longer tossed with tempestuous passions, 



BfiV. HB^Y MARTY& 1 3T3 

it has subsided a little; but still the mild beams of 
the Spirit fall on an undulating surface: but the 
time of perfect rest approaches/' 

Sept. 10. — "Endeavored to consider what should 
be my study and preparation for the mission; but 
could devise no particular plan, but to search from 
the Scriptures what are God's promises respecting 
the spread of the Gospel, and of the means by 
which it shall be accomplished. Long seasons of 
prayer in behalf of the Heathen, I am sure are 
necessary; — Isa. lxii. I began Isaiah, and learnt by 
heart the promises scattered through the twelve 
first chapters, hoping it may prove profitable matter 
for meditation as well as prayer. Read Pilgrim's 
Progress below, amidst the greatest noise and inter- 
ruption. Notwithstanding the clamor, I felt as if I 
could preach to a million of noisy persons with un- 
conquerable boldness. — We have been becalmed 
the whole day. I fear my soul has been much in 
the same state; but I would not that it should be so 
any longer." 

Sept. 13. — "In my walk, my attention was engag- 
ed by the appearance of mutiny amongst the men. 
Last night the ship's crew and the soldiers refused 
their allowance, and this morning, when they piped 
to dinner, they gave three cheers. After some 
time, a seaman was fixed on as the ringleader; and 
from his behavior, I was not sorry to hear the Cap- 
tain order him to be put into irons. As it was a 
sorrowful and humiliating thing to me, I retired to 
12 



334 MEMOIR OF 

pray for them and myself. In the afternoon I read 
as usual, and found two occasions of speaking in ref- 
erence to their mutinous murmurs." 

Sept. 14. — "Found great pleasure and profit in 
Milner's Church History. I love to converse as it 
were with those holy Bishops and Martyrs, with 
whom I hope, through grace, to spend a happy 
eternity." 

Sept. 15. — Sunday. "He that testifieth these 
things saith, behold — I come quickly — Amen — even 
so* — come quickly, Lord Jesus!" Happy John! 
though shut out from society and the ordinances of 
grace: happy wast thou in thy solitude, when by it 
thou wast induced thus gladly to welcome the 
Lord's w r ords, and repeat them with a prayer. 
Read and preached on Acts xiii, 38, 39. In the 
latter part, where I was led to speak, without prep- 
aration, on the all-sufficiency of Christ to save sin- 
ners, who came to him with all their sins without 
delay, I was carried away with a divine aid to speak 
with freedom and energy: my soul was refreshed, 
and I retired, seeing reason to be thankful. — The 
weather was fair and calm, inviting the mind to 
tranquillity and praise: the ship just moved upon 
the face of the untroubled ocean. I went below in 
hopes of reading Baxter's Call to the Unconverted; 
but there was no getting down, as they were taking 
out water: so I sat with the seamen on the gun 
d ec k. — As I w T alked in the evening at sun-set, I 
thought with pleasure, but a few more suns, and I 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 135 

shall be where my sun shall no more go down. 
Read Isaiah the rest of the evening, sometimes 
happy, but at other times tired, and desiring to take 
up some other religious book — but I saiv it an im- 
portant duty to check this slighting of the word of 
God.''' 

Sept. 16. — "Two things were much in my mind 
this morning in prayer, the necessity of entering 
more deeply into my heart, and laboring after hu- 
miliation, and, for that reason, setting apart times 
for fasting; as also to devote times for solemn 
prayer for fitness in the ministry; especially love for 
souls, and for the effusion of the Spirit on the Heath- 
en lands, according to God's command. * * # coming 
in, said many had become more hostile than ever; 
they should come up to prayers, because they be- 
lieved I was sincere; but not to the Sermon, as I 
did nothing but preach about hell: I hope this por- 
tends o;ood. Prevented reading below from the 
same cause as on Saturday." 

Sept. 17. — "It began to blow hard again. ...the 
calmness and pleasure with which I contemplate 
death, rather made me fear I did not fear it enough. 
Read below with the soldiers.' 9 

Sept. 18. — "Rose ill, and continued so all the day. 
Tried to encourage myself in the Lord. Looking 
at the sea, my soul was enabled to rejoice in the 
great Maker of it as my God." 

Sept. 19. — "Was assisted this morning to pray 
for two hours, principally in regard to God's prom- 



.136 SrEMOIR OF 

ises respecting the spread of the Gospel. Read 
Hindoostanee and Miiner — found the men forbidden 
to go below, so I know not how they are to be in- 
structed; may the Lord open a way. — The weather 
is calm and sultry — my frame relaxed to a painful 
degree — I am led to seek a quiet meek submission 
to every thing that shall befal me. O, this right 
blessed frame, would that it may continue! I feel it 
to be the disposition of a creature approving of every 
thing, because it is God's doing. 

Sept. 20. — "My soul was blessed with a sacred 
and holy reverence in the work of God this morning: 
it was the sentiment of serious love, such as I should 
wish always to maintain. To behold God in his 
glory, and worship him for what he is in himself, 
I should believe, is the bliss of heaven. Exercised 
myself in Hindoostanee — read Pilgrim's Progress 
to a few below deck — continued to delight in the 
prospect of preaching in India. The example of 
the Christian Saints, in the early ages, has been a 
source of sweet reflection to me frequently to-day; 
the holy love and devout meditations of Augustine 
and Ambrose I delight to think of." 

Sept. 21. — "i seemed uneasy at the thoughts of 
calling forth the hatred of people to-morroic, by 
preaching to them unpleasant truths" 

Sept. 22. — Sunday. "Was more tried by the 
fear of man, than I ever have been since God has 
called me to the ministry. The threats and oppo- 
sition of these men made me unwilling to set before 



REV, HENRY MARTYN. 



13* 



them the truths which they hated: yet I had no 
species of hesitation about doing it. They had let 
me know that if I would preach a sermon like one 
of Blair's they should be glad to hear it, but they 
would not attend if so much of hell was preached. 
This morning again Captain * * * said, 'Mr. Martyn 
must not damn us to-day, or none will come again.' 
I was a little disturbed; but Luke x, and, above- 
all, our Lord's last address to his disciples, (John 
xiv, 16,) strengthened me. I took for my text Psal. 
ix, 17. 'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and 
all the nations that forget God.' The officers were 
all behind my back, in order to have an opportunity 
of retiring in case of dislike. B * # * attended the 
whole time. H * * # , as soon as he heard the text, 
went back, and said he would hear no more about 
hell; so he employed himself in feeding the geese- 
* * * said I had shut him up in hell, and the univer- 
sal cry was 'we are all to be damned.' However, 
God, I trust, blessed the sermon to the good of many* 
Some of the cadets, and many of the soldiers were 
in tears. I felt an ardor and vehemence in some 
parts which are unusual with me. After service, 
walked the deck with Mrs. * * # : she spoke with 
so much simplicity and amiable humility, that I was 
fall of joy and adoration to God for a sheep brought 
home to his fold. In the afternoon went below, in 
tending to read to them at the hritchway, but time 
was not one of them; so I could get nothing to do 
among the poor soldiers." 
* 12 



138 MEMOIR OF 

Sept. 23. — "We are just to the south of all Eu- 
rope, and I bid adieu to it forever, without a wish of 
ever revisiting it, and still less with any desire of 
taking up my rest in the strange land to which I am 
going. Ah! no, — farewell perishing world! 'To me 
to live' shall be 'Christ.' I have nothing to do here, 
but to labor as a stranger, and by secret prayer and 
outward exeriion, do as much as possible for the 
church of Christ and my own soul, till my eyes close 
in death, and my soul wings its way to a brighter 
world. Strengthen me, O God my Savior; that, 
whether living or dying, I may be thine." 

Sept. 24. — "The determination with which I 
went to bed last night of devoting this day to prayer 
and fasting, I was enabled to put in execution." 

Sept. 25. — "Most of the morning employed in 
Hindoostanee — read Pilgrim's Progress and Baxter 
T)elow. Had a long conversation with one of the 
Lascars." 

Sept, 27. — "The oaths I heard on deck moved 
my indignation; but I recollected the words of the 
Macedonian in the dream, 'come over, and help us.' 
Probably there was no one that felt his need of 
help, but the holy Spirit put it in this engaging way, 
Jbecause they did request as much by their silent 
misery. So I thought that every oath they swore, 
was a call on me to help them. In the afternoon, I 
rtfas told I could rpt go below, as there had been 
fires lighted to air the deck. Went, by way of 
changing the scene, in a boat to the Sarah Chris* 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 139 

liana, about three miles off. It was a novel thing 
to be in a little boat in the midst of a great ocean. 
The nearest main land, Africa, was three hundred 
and fifty miles distant. I reflected without pain that 
England was eleven hundred miles off." 

Sept. 28. — "My thoughts were much engaged, as 
well as those about me, with the prospect of going 
on shore. They were doing nothing else for hours 
but looking out with their glasses for land. After 
dinner, on coming out, I saw the majestic heights 
of Porto Santo, distant about five or six leagues, 
Again I was disappointed in going below from the 
same cause. Was diverted from my proper work by 
looking at a Portuguese grammar. So astonishing 
is the weakness of my heart, every trifle has power 
to draw me from that communion with God which 
my better w T ill chooses, as my best and beloved por- 
tion. O for the steady abiding under the shadow 
of the Almighty; and as the days pass on, and bring 
me nearer to the end of the things which are seen, 
so let me be more and more quickened, to be ready 
for the unseen world." 

"By faith, I see the land 
With peace and plenty blest; 
A land of sacred liberty 
And endless rest." 

Mr. Martyn's diligence in his humble and despis- 
ed ministrations amongst the soldiers in the ship 
with him, will not have escaped the attention of 
those who have read the above extracts, It will 



140 MEMOffi OF 

have been remarked, that there were not many 
days in which he remitted this work. Nor was his 
labor confined to the soldiers: their officers were 
addressed by him with equal earnestness, on every 
fair and favorable opportunity. With some he had 
frequent religious conversations. The cadets, also, 
he endeavored to "allure to brighter worlds;" and 
to shew that he had also their welfare in this world 
at heart, he offered gratuitously to instruct in mathe- 
matics as many as chose to come to him; an offer 
which several accepted: and, as if this were not 
enough to occupy his time, he undertook also to read 
French with another passenger, who was desirous 
of improvement in that language. He was willing 
to become all things to all men, that he might win 
some. How far it were wise in him to preach im- 
mediately upon the awful subject of eternal misery, 
after an injunction to abstain from such a topic, is a 
question which may admit of a diversity of senti- 
ment. Certain, however, it is, that men may be 
told "even weeping, that their end is destruction," 
and the temper by which Mr. Martyn was invaria- 
bly characterized, leaves no room to doubt, but tHat 
his conduct in this instance was influenced by an im- 
perious sense of duty, and by the tender overflow- 
ings of love. 

The sight of a foreign land, where superstition 
held her dark and undisputed sway, naturally ex- 
cited a new train of sensations in Mr. Marty n's mind, 
which he thus communicated from Funchal to a 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 141 

near relation at Falmouth. "Yesterday morning 
we came to an anchor at this place. The craggy 
mountains, at the foot of which Funchal is situate, 
make a most grand and picturesque appearance. 
On entering the town, i was struck with the con- 
viction of being in a foreign country. Every thing 
was different, — the houses, even the poorest, all 
regular and stately — every where groves of orange 
and lemon trees— the countenances, and dress, and 
manners of the people different to those I had been 
used to — black-skirted Catholic priests, and nun- 
like women, with beads and a crucifix, passing in all 
directions. How would St. Paul have sighed in 
passing through this town, wholly given up to idola- 
try. I went to the great church, where they were 
performing high mass, and was perfectly dazzled 
with the golden splendor of the place. But all the 
external aids of devotion lost their usual effect upon 
me, while I contemplated the endless multitude of 
mountebank tricks the priests were exhibiting. Is 
it possible, thought I, this should be a Christian 
Church! There was no appearance of attention, 
except in one poor African -woman, who was cross- 
ing herself repeatedly, with the utmost expression 
of contrition in her countenance. Perhaps, said I 
to her, in my mind, we shall meet in heaven." 

After remaining four days at Funchal, the fleet 
put to sea, information having been previously im- 
parted to the army, that their object was the cap- 
ture of the. Cape of Good Hope, and that accordingly 



142 MEMOIR OF 

they might, ere long, expect to meet an enemy 
on the field of battle. 

Intelligence of this nature served to quicken that 
activity and zeal, which in Mr. Martyn had not 
hitherto been either sluggish or supine. He^was, 
therefore perpetually visiting, or attempting to visit, 
that part of his flock which was so soon to be ex- 
posed to the perils of warfare. "I entreated them 
even with tears," said he, "out of fervent love for 
their souls, and I could have poured away my life 
to have persuaded them, to return to God." — By a 
sentence in Milner's Church History, "to believe, 
to suffer, and to love, was the primitive taste," he 
states that his mind, at this time, was very deeply 
impressed; observing, that "no uninspired sentence 
ever affected him so much." It was, in fact, an 
epitome of his own life, conversation, and spirit: a 
lively exemplification of which is to be found in the 
manner in which, during this part of the voyage, he 
strove against an extreme and oppressive languor of 
body, which tended to impede Lis present labors, 
and threatened to impair his future efficiency. — 
"The extreme weakness and languor of my body 
made me fear I should never be used as a preacher 
in India: But what," said he, "means this anxiety? 
Is it not of God that I am led into outward difficul- 
ties, that my faith may be tried? Suppose you are 
obliged to return, or that vou never see India, but 
wither and die here, what is that to you? Do the 
will of God where vou are, and leave the rest to 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 140 

him." — "I found great satisfaction in reflecting, that 
my hourly wisdom was not to repine, and to look for 
a change, but to consider what is my duty in ex- 
isting circumstances, and then to do it, in de pen- 
dance upon grace." So deeply was his soul imbued 
with the "primitive taste," and so entirely did it ac- 
cord with that wise maxim, of such universal but 
difficult application — 

"Tu tua fac cures — cxf.era mitte Deo."* 

From Porto Santo to St. Salvador, the voyage 
was accomplished in little more than five weeks, 
during which the special Providence of God mani- 
festly watched over Mr. Martyn. Soon after cross- 
ing the line, on the 30th of October, the Union, in 
which he sailed, passed in the night within a very 
short distance of a dangerous reef of rocks, which 
proved destructive to two other vessels. The reef 
lay exactly across the track of the Union, and had 
not the second mate, who was on watch, called up 
the captain and the first mate as soon as danger 
was discovered, they would inevitably have been 
wrecked: their escape was considered as almost 
miraculous. Pieces of the ships that were dashed 
against the breakers floated by them, and many of 
those who had been cast on the rocks were seen 
making signals for assistance. Anxiety on board 
the Union respecting these unhappy persons was 

* Take care that you do your duty — leave the rest to God. 



144 MEMOIR OF 

intense: happily, however, they were all saved, 

with the exception of three officers, one of whom 

lost his life by endeavoring to secure a large sum of 

money: leaving the vessel too soon, he sunk to rise 

no more; and, as it was supposed, was devoured by 

the sharks which surrounded the ships in great 

numbers. Nor was this the only peril which the 

Union escaped: on the coast of South America, she 

incurred a similar risk: — "O how sweet," remarked 

Mr. Martyn, "to perceive such repeated instances 

of God's guardian care!" — During this part of the 

voyage, the novel sight of the flying-fish beginning to 

attract attention, Mr. Martyn's mind, ever fertile in 

topics of humiliation, could discover a "resemblance 

to his own soul in those poor little creatures, which 

rose to a little height, and then in a minute or two, 

when their fins were dry, dropped into the waves." 

Others, doubtless, would have chosen for him a far 

different similitude, and would have sought it rather 

in the eagle soaring into the fields of light, or in the 

dove of the poet, 



To smoother 



"When at length she springs 
fight, and shoots upon her wings." — Drydex. 



"I find, (Mr. Martyn wrote on his arrival at St. Sal- 
vador to two of his friends in England,) that neither 
distance nor time can separate the hearts which are 
united in the fellowship of the Gospel, as well as by 
mutual esteem* Mere earthly affections are weak- 
ened by time and absence; but Christian love grows 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 145 

stronger, as the day of salvation approaches. Al- 
ready, a watery waste of four thousand miles lies 
between me and England: but because I have you 
in my heart, and make mention of you without 
ceasing in my prayers, you seem scarcely yet out of 
sight." 

"Though a long sea is rolling already betwixt us, 
yet I scarcely seem to have lost sight of you, or of 
my dear friends at Cambridge. The hymns we sing, 
being chiefly taken from your collection, daily bring 
to my remembrance the happy days when I went 
with the multitude to the house of God, with the 
voice of joy and praise. Those seasons are gone 
by; but I comfort myself with thinking, they will 
quickly be renewed in a better country, when we 
come to dwell together in the mansions of our 
father's house." 

The description of St. Salvador, and the events 
connected with Mr. Martyn's stay there, we have 
thus recorded by him at some length. 

Nov. 12. — "The coast was beautiful, with much 
romantic scenery. The town exactly resembled 
Funchal, but was rather more cheerful. The ob- 
jects in the streets were strong negro-men slaves, 
carrying very heavy casks on a pole, with a sort of 
unpleasant note — negro-women, carrying fish, fruit, 
&c. — a few palanquins, which are drawn by two 
mules. The things exposed to sale were turtles, 
bananas, oranges, limes, papaws, watermelons, tama- 
rinds, fustich wood. I walked up the hill, in order 
13 



146 MEMOIR OF 

to get into the country, and observed a man standing 
by the way side, holding out for the people's saluta- 
tion a silver embossed piece of plate of a small oval 
size, and repeating some words about St. Antonio. 
Some kissed it; others took off their hats; but the 
man himself seemed to ridicule their folly. They 
were performing mass in one church: it was not so 
splendid as that of Madeira: many of the priests 
were negroes. I soon reached the suburbs, on the 
outside of which was a battery, which commanded 
a view of the whole bay, and repeated the hymn, 
O'er the gloomy hills of darkness.' What happy 
Missionary shall be sent to bear the name of Christ 
to these Western regions! When shall this beautiful 
country be delivered from idolatry and spurious 
Christianity! Crosses there are in abundance; but 
when shall the doctrine of the cross be held up! I 
continued my walk in quest of a wood, or some 
trees, where I might sit down; but all was appro- 
priated: no tree was to be approached, except 
through an enclosure. At last I came to a magnifi- 
cent porch, before a garden gate, which was open. 
I walked in, but finding the vista led straight to the 
house, I turned to the right, and found myself in a 
grove of cocoa-nut trees, orange trees, and several 
strange fruit trees: under them was nothing but rose 
trees; but no verdure on the ground: oranges were 
strewed as apples in an orchard. Perceiving that 
I was observed by the slaves, I came up to the 
house, and was directed by them to an old man sit- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 147 

ting under a tree, apparently insensible from illness* 
I spoke to him in French, and in English; but he 
took no notice. Presently a young man and a young 
lady appeared, to whom I spoke in French, and 
was very politely desired to sit down at a little 
table, which was standing under a large space 
before the house, like a verandah. They then 
brought me oranges, and a small red acid fruit, the 
name of which I asked, but cannot recollect. The 
young man sat opposite, conversing about Cambridge: 
He had been educated in a Portuguese University. 
Almost immediately, on finding I was of Cambridge, 
he invited me to come, when I liked, to his house. 
A slave, after bringing the fruit, was sent to gather 
three roses for me: the master then walked with 
me round the garden, and shewed me among the 
rest, the coffee plant: when I left him he repeated 
his invitation. Thus did the Lord give his servant 
favor in the eyes of Antonio Joseph Corre." 

Nov. J 3. — "This morning there was a great 
storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, which awoke 
me. — I got up, and prayed. — O when the last great 
thunder echoes from pole to pole, I shall be in earn- 
est, if not before." 

Nov. 14. — "Sennor Antonio received me with the 
same cordiality: he begged me to dine with him* 
I was curious and attentive to observe the difference 
between the Portuguese manners and ours: there 
were but two plates laid on the table, and the dinner 
consisted of a great number of small mixed dishes, 



148 MEMOIR OF 

following one another in quick succession; but none 
of them very palatable. In the cool of the even- 
ing, we walked out to see his plantation: here every 
thing possessed the charm of novelty. The grounds 
included two hills, and a valley between them. — 
The hills were covered with cocoa-nut trees,bananas, 
mangos, orange and lemon trees, olives, coffee, choc- 
olate, and cotton plants, &c. In the valley was a 
large plantation of a shrub or tree, bearing a cluster 
of small berries, which he desired me to taste. I 
did, and found it was pepper. It had lately been 
introduced from Batavia, and answered very well. 
It grows on a stem about the thickness of a finger, to 
the height of about seven feet, and is supported by 
a stick, which, at that height, has another across it 
for the branches to spread upon. Slaves were 
walking upon the ground: watering the trees, and 
turning up the ground; the soil appeared very dry 
and loose. At night, returned to the ship in a coun- 
try boat, which are canoes made of a tree hollowed 
out, and paddled by three men." 

Nov. 18. — "Went ashore at six o'clock, and found 
that Sennor Antonio had been waiting for me two 
hours. It being too late to go into the country, I 
staid at his house till dinner. He kept me too much 
in his company, but I found intervals for retirement. 
In a cool and shady part of the garden, near some 
water, I sat and sang — c O'er the gloomy hills of 
darkness.' I could read and pray aloud, as there 
was no fear of any one understanding mc. In the 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. MD 

afternoon, we went in a palanquin to visit his father. 
Reading the eighty-fourth Psalm, '0 how amiable 
are thy tabernacles, 9 this morning in the shade — the 
day when I read it last under the trees with # * % 
was brought forcibly to my remembrance, and pro- 
duced some degree of melancholy. Of this I was 
thinking all the way I was carried; and the train of 
reflections into which I was led, drew off my atten- 
tion from the present scene. We visited, in our 
way, a monastery of Carmelites: in the church be- 
longing to it, my friend Antonio knelt some time, 
and crossed himself: I was surprised, but said noth- 
ing. At his father's house, I was described to them 
as one who knew every thing — Arabic, Persian, 
Greek, &c.; and all stared at me as if I had dropped 
from the skies. The father, Sennor Dominigo, 
spoke a little Latin. A priest came in, and as it 
was the first time I was in company with one, I 
spoke to him in Latin, but he blushed, and said that 
he did not speak it. I was very sorry I had unde- 
signedly put him to pain. Had a great deal of con- 
versation with Antonio afterwards on England, and 
on religion. He had formed such an idea of Eng- 
land, that he had resolved to send his son to be ed- 
ucated there. — A slave in my bed-room washed my 
feet. I was struck with the degree of abasement 
expressed in the act, and as he held the foot in the 
towel, with his head bowed down towards it, I re- 
membered the condescension of the blessed Lord. 
May I have grace to follow such humility!" 
*13 



150 



MEMOIR Of 



Nor. 19. — "Early after breakfast went in a- 
palanquin to Sennor Dominigo\s; and from thence, 
with him, two or three miles into the country. 
At intervals, I got out and walked. I was grati- 
fied with the sight of what I wanted to see; 
namely, some parts of the country in its original 
state, covered with wood: it was hilly but not 
mountainous. The luxuriance was so rank, that 
the whole space, even to the tops of the trees, was 
filled with long stringy shrubs and weeds, so as to 
make them impervious, and opaque. The road 
was made by cutting away the earth on the side 
of the hill, so that there were woods above and 
below us. The object of our walk was to see a 
pepper plantation made in a valley on a perfect 
level. The symmetry of the trees was what 
charmed my Portuguese friends: but to me, who 
was seeking the wild features of America, it was 
just what I did not want. — -The person who shewed 
us the grounds, was one that had been a major in 
the Portuguese army, and had retired on a pension. 
The border consisted of pine apples, planted be- 
tween each tree: the interior was set with lemon 
trees, here and there, between the pepper plants. 
We were shewn the root of the mandioc, called by 
us tapioca: it was like a large horse radish: the 
mill for grinding was extremely simple: a hori- 
zontal wheel, turned by horses, put in motion a 
vertical one; on the circumference of which was a 
thin brazen plate, furnished on the inside like a 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 151 

nutmeg grater: a slave held the root to the wheel, 
which grated it away, and threw it in the form of a 
moist paste into a receptacle below: it is then 
dried in pans, and used as a farina with meat. At 
Sennor Antonio's, a plate of tapioca was attached 
to each of our plates. Some of the pepper was 
nearly ripe, and of a reddish appearance: when 
gathered, which it is in April, it is dried in the sun; 
In our way to the old major's house, we came to a 
small church, on an eminence, on a plot of ground 
surrounded by a wall, which was for the purpose of 
burying the dead from a neighboring hospital, erect- 
ed for those afflicted with a cutaneous disorder 
called the morphee. What this is I could not learn, 
as I saw none of the patients. The major had apart- 
ments at the hospital, of which he was inspector. 
In the church, all three knelt and crossed them- 
selves as usual. I said nothing; but, upon this, a 
conversation began among them, chiefly from Sennor 
Antonio's mentioning to them my objections. The 
major spoke with a vehemence which would have 
become a better cause: Antonio acted as interpre- 
ter. By constant appeal to the Scripture on every 
subject, I gave immediate answers. The old man 
concluded the conversation by saying, he was sure I 
read the Scriptures, and therefore would embrace 
me, which he did after the manner of the countrv. 
Sennor Antonio told me plainly at last, which I had 
long been expecting to hear, that the prejudices of 
education were strong, and operated to keep his 



152 MEMOIR OF 

father bigotted; but, for himself, he had nothing to 
do with saints in secret; he adored God alone. I 
could have wished more; it was the confession 
rather of a liberal than a religious mind. Soon after 
there was a procession of priests, carrying the Sa- 
crament to the house of a person just departing: 
they both knelt, and continued till they past. Sen- 
nor Antonio said, that he 'conformed to the custom 
of the country in trifles.' I thought of Naaman and 
his god Rimmon. I did not, however, think it right 
to push the matter too suddenly; but told him, in 
general, how the English reformers were led to 
prison and to flames, rather than conform; and that, 
if I was born a Portuguese, I would rather be im- 
prisoned and burnt, than conform to idolatry. At 
the same time I talked to him of the doctrines of 
the 'new birth,' &c. but he did not seem to pay 
much attention: Sennor Dominigo asked me if the 
soldiers had a minister to attend them in their 
dying moments, to instruct and to administer conso- 
lation. For the first time I felt that I had the worst 
of the argument, and hardly knew what to say to 
explain such neglect among the Protestants. He 
shrugged up his shoulders with horror at such a 
religion. We were then shewn the Hospital erec- 
ted by the Prince of Portugal: it was a noble build- 
ing, far superior to that at Haslar. In the garden, 
each person, alternately, gathered a sprig or fragrant 
leaf for me. The person who shewed it us was a 
Chevalier of some order. In the chapel, Sennor 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 153 

Antonio knelt; but always looked on me smiling, 
and said, "c'est le coutume du pays.' 5 * I left him in 
order to go on board; but, finding as I went along, 
a chapel open, I went in to see the pictures; all of 
which contained, as a prominent figure, a friar of 
some order. In one, some people in flames were 
laying hold of the twisted rope which was pendent 
from his waist: how apt the image, if Jesus Christ 
were in the room of the friar! At this time a friar, 
dressed identically as the one in the picture, moved 
slowly along: I followed him through the cloister, 
and addressed him in Latin. He was a little sur- 
prised; but replied. He told me that the chapel 
belonged to a monastery of Franciscan friars. In a 
cloister which led round the second floor of the 
building, he stopped; and by this time we were able 
to understand each other exceedingly well. I then 
asked him to prove from Scripture, the doctrine of 
purgatory, of image worship, the supremacy of 
the Pope, and transuhstantiation. His arguments 
were exceedingly weak, and the Lord furnished 
me with an answer to them all. During our con- 
versation, two or three more friars assembled round 
and joined in the dispute. I confuted all their errors 
as plainly as possible from the word of God; and 
they had nothing to reply, but did not seem dis- 
concerted. A whole troop of them passing in 
procession in the opposite cloister below, beckoned 

* It is the custom of the country 



154 MEMOIR OF 

to them to retire; which they did, taking me along 
with them to a cell — two before, and one on each 
side. As we passed along the passage, one asked 
me whether I was a Christian. When we had all 
reached the cell, and sat down, I asked for a Bible, 
and the dispute was renewed. I found that they 
considered their errors as not tenable on Scripture 
ground; and appealed to the authority of the church. 
I told them this church was, by their confession, 
acting against the law of God; and was therefore 
not the church of God: besides, I referred them to 
the last words in the Revelations. They seemed 
most surprised at my knowledge of Scripture. 
When they were silent, and had nothing to say, I 
was afraid the business would end here without 
good; and so I said — you who profess to teach the 
way of truth, how can you dare, before God, to let 
them go on in idolatrous practices, which you 
know to be contrary to the word of God? They 
looked very grave. The one who spoke French, 
and also the best Latin, grew very angry during 
their dispute; and talked of the *Scripturarum inter- 
pretes — pii sapientissimique viri Augustinus, Bernar- 
dus, &c; but, said I, 'they were not inspired.' Yes, 
he said. But he:e he was corrected by the rest. 
As this man seemed in earnest, (the rest were some- 
times grave> and sometimes laughing.) I asked him 
why he had assumed the cowl of the friar — he 

* Interpreters of Scripture — the pious and learned Augustine, Bernard, he. 



REV. HENRY fllARTYS. 155 

answered, # 'ut nie abstraherem a vanitate rerum 
mundanarum et meipsum sanctum faciam ad gloriam 
Dei." He spoke with great impression and earn- 
estness, and seemed the most sincere of any. They 
were acquainted with logic, and argued according to 
rule. He began by saying, t'nullam salutem esse 
extra ecclesiam Catholicam, axioma est?' 'Concedo,' 
said I — 4 sed extra Komanam salus esse potest.' 
'Minime,' they all cried out. 'Quare,' said I, 'proba,' 
but they could not. At last I went away, as the sun 
had set, and they all attended me through the long 
dark passages. I almost trembled at the situation 
and company I was in, but they were exceedingly 
polite, and begged to know when I was coming 
ashore again, that they might expect me. I had 
staid so long, that after waiting for hours at the 
different quays, no boat returned; and I was obliged 
to return to Sennor Antonio's, from whom I receiv- 
ed an affectionate welcome. His wife and slaves, 
who seemed to be admitted to the utmost familiari- 
ty, delighted to stand around me, and teach me the 
Portuguese names of things." 

Nov. 21. — "Went on shore, and breakfasted with 
Sennor Antonio. After dinner, while he slept, I 
had some time for reading, &c. In the evening, he 
and his w T ife and a female slave played at cards. I 
sat at the table, learning Hindoostanee roots." 

* 'That I may withdraw myself from the vanity of earthly things, and 
consecrate myself to the glory of God.' 

f 'It is an axiom that there is no salvation out of the Catholic Church.' 'I 
grant it,' said I;— 'but there is salvation out of the lioman? 'By no means,' 
they all cried out. * Wherefore?' said T, 'prove it,' but they could not. 



156 MEMOIR OF 

Nov. 23. — "In the afternoon took leave of my 
kind friends Sennor and Sennora Corre. They and 
the rest came out to the garden gate, and continued 
looking, till the winding of the road hid me from 
their sight. The poor slave Raymond, who had 
attended me and carried my things, burst into a 
flood of tears, as we left the door; and when I 
parted from him, he was going to kiss my feet; but 
I shook hands with him, much affected with such 
extraordinary kindness in people, to whom I had 
been a total stranger till within a few days. What 
shall I render unto the Lord for all his mercies! — In 
my way to the quay, I met a young friar of the order 
of St. Augustine. He understood me enough to 
conduct me part of the way to the convent of the 
Franciscans — till he met with a young priest, to 
whom he consigned me. With him I had a dispute 
in Latin. When I said that in no part of Scripture 
it was commanded to worship the Virgin; he color- 
ed, and said, in a low tone, 'verum est. ,# At the 
monastery, I met with my old friends the same four 
friars. After regaling me with sweetmeats, they 
renewed the dispute. We parted with mutual lam- 
entations over one another; I telling them they 
were in an awful error; they smiling at my obsti- 
nacy, and mourning over my lost condition. I went 
away in no small dejection, that the Gospel should 
have so little effect, or rather none at all. This was 
by no means diminished when I came to the boat 

* It is t me. 



REV. HENRY MARTIN. 157 

It was the commemoration of the Hegira; and our 
Mahomedan rowers, dressed in white, were singing 
hymns all the way to the honor of Mahomet. Here 
was another abomination. B * * # sat beside me, 
and we had a long conversation, and for some time 
went on very well. I cleared away error, as I 
thought, very fast; and, when the time was come, I 
stated in a few words the Gospel. The reply was, 
that "I was not speaking to the purpose; that for 
his part, he could not see what more could be neces- 
sary than simply to tell mankind they must be sober 
and honest." I turned away, and, with a deep sigh, 
cried to God to interfere in behalf of his Gospel: for 
in the course of one hour, I had seen three shocking 
mementos of the reign and power of the Devil, 
in the form of Popish and Mahomedan delusion, and 
that of the natural man. I never felt so strongly 
what a nothing I am. All my clear arguments are 
good for nothing; unless the Lord stretch out his 
hand, I speak to stones. I felt, however, no way 
discouraged, but only saw the necessity of depen- 
dance on God." 

After little more than a fortnight, the fleet sailed, 
whilst many a grateful recollection filled the breast, 
and many a fervent prayer ascended doubtless from 
the heart of Mr. Martyn, in behalf of Sennor and 
Sennora Corre: from them he had received signal 
kindness and hospitality; and of them it might not 
perhaps be too much to observe, 'that not forgetful 
to entertain strangers, they had entertained an angel 
14 



158 MEMOIR OF 

unawares.' "I have been with my friend Antonio," 
said he "as a wayfaring man that tarrieth but for 
a night; yet hath the Lord put it into his heart to 
send me on after a goodly sort. And now we prose- 
cute our voyage: a few more passages, and I shall 
find myself in the scene of my ministry; a few more 
changes and journies, and I am in eternity." 

As the time approached for the soldiers to take 
the field, Mr. Martyn's anxiety for their eternal 
welfare increased; and as a proof of it, he set apart 
a day for fasting, humiliation, and intercession for 
them, as well as for all who were in the ship. But 
he did not intercede for them, he observed, as being 
himself righteous, but chose rather to humble 
himself with them as a sinner; earnestly crying to 
God in contrition, and abasement of soul. — At this 
solemn juncture, he began to read and expound to 
his auditors the holy Scriptures exclusively; and 
after some consideration respecting the propriety of 
such a step, he determined not to suffer them to 
part without prayer to the Lord, as well as singing 
his praises. Such a procedure, he was well aware, 
would put the faith of his hearers, as well as his 
own in some measure, to a strong and trying test. 
Above, obloquy and contempt might be expected: 
below, noise and clamor and scoffs. He nevertheless 
persisted in his purpose, resolving, as the line of 
duty seemed to be clear, to pursue it steadily, and 
calmly commit all consequences to God. "To kneel 
in prayer," he remarked in a letter to a friend, 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 159 

"before a considerable number of lookers on, some 
working, others scoffing, was a painful cross to my 
poor people at first. But they received strength 
according to their day; and now the song of «s all 
is, 'Thou hast prepared a table before me in the 
presence of my enemies.' " 

The unhealthy state of the ship's company, from 
Dysentery, at this period of the voyage, was anoth- 
er cail on Mr. Martyn's pastoral assiduity — a call to 
which he evinced no backwardness to attend. Of- 
ten was he to be found by the beds of the sick, ad- 
ministering to them every temporal and spiritual 
comfort — till at length he was himself seized by 
that contagious disorder. His illness was not of 
long duration, but was such as to make him think 
seriously of death, and employ himself in the most 
solemn self-examination. On which occasion, he 
had so much delight and joy in the consideration of 
heaven and of his assured title to it, that he was 
mere desirous of dying than living — not that it was 
any one thing that he had done, (he remarks,) that 
gave him substantial reason for thinking himself in 
Christ — it was the bent of his affections and inclina- 
tions towards God, and the taste he had for holy 
pleasures and holy employments, which convinced 
him that he was born of God. 

No sooner had he recovered from this attack, 
than he was again at his post, kneeling beside the 
hammocks of the dying. And amongst those who 
then required and received his faithful offices, w'as 



{lGf0 HEMOIR OF 

ihe Captain of the ship, whose illness, though of a 
different kind from the prevailing one, was highly 
dangerous, and quickly terminated in his dissolution. 
A T »J now as the year was drawing to a close, and 
the last Sabbath of it was come; Mr. Martyn ad- 
dressed his hearers from 2 Pet. iii, 1 1; — "Seeing then 
that all these things shall be dissolved, what man- 
ner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conver- 
sation and godliness:" in reference to their having 
left England — to their having passed through so 
many perils — to their being, many of them, about 
to meet an enemy in the field — and to the death 
of their Captain. His own mind, which could not 
but be in an exceedingly serious frame, was also in 
a state of the purest joy, and most perfect peace. 
"Separated," said he, "from my friends and coun- 
try for ever, there is nothing to distract me from 
hearing the 'voice of my beloved,' and coming away 
from this world, and walking with him in love, 
amidst the flowers that perfume the air of para- 
dise, and the harmony of the happy, happy saints 
who are singing his praise. Thus hath the Lord 
brought rne to the conclusion of the vear; and 
though I have broken his statutes, and not kept 
his commandments; yet he hath not utterly taken 
awav his loving kindness, nor suffered his truth to 
fail. I thought, at the beginning of the year, I 
should have been in India at this time, if I should 
have escaped all the dangers of the climate. These 
dangers are yet to come; but I can leave all cheer- 



REV. HENRY 31ARTVN*. 161 

fully to God. If I am weary of any thing, it is of 
my life of sinfulness. I want a life of more devotion 
and holiness; and yet am so vain, as to be expect- 
ing the end without the means. I am far from re- 
gretting, that I ever came on this delightful work; 
were I to choose for myself, I could scarcely find a 
situation more agreeable to my taste. On, there- 
fore, let me go, and persevere steadily in this bless- 
ed undertaking; through the grace of God dying 
daily to the opinions of men, and aiming, with a 
more single eye, at the glory of the everlasting 
God." 

On the 2nd of January, 1806, whilst Mr. Martyn 
was in the act of commending his flock to God in 
prayer, the High Lands of the Cape became visible 
at eighty miles distance; and doubtless they were 
not seen without exciting; the strongest emotions in 
many hearts: numbers there were soon to assemble, 
who should meet no more till all nations were gath- 
ered before the tribunal of Christ. 

On tho 3d, the fleet anchored, and the signal was 
instantly given for the soldiers to prepare to land. 
But how then was Mr. Martyn's holy and affection- 
ate soul grieved, to witness the dreadful levity con- 
cerning death, which almost universally prevailed! 
"It was," said he, "a melancholy scene. I couid 
speak to none of my people but to Corporal B * •$* 
and # * » I said also to Sergeant G * * * 'it is now 
high time to be decided in religion* 5 lie replied 
•14 



162 



MEMOIR OF 



with a sigh. Poor Corporal B* * * and the others 
gave me a last affecting look after they were in the 
boats. I retired to pray; and found delightful ac- 
cess to God, and freedom in prayer for the poor 
soldiers." — The Indiamen being then ordered to 
get under weigh, and the men of war drawn up close 
to the shore, a landing was effected, and soon after 
seven the next day, as Mr. Martyn describes it, 4; a 
most tremendous fire of artillery began behind a 
mountain abreast of the ships. It seemed as if the 
mountain itself was torn by intestine convulsions. 
The smoke rose from a lesser eminence on the ri^ht 
of the hill; and, on the top of it, troops were seen 
marching down the farther declivity. Then came 
such a long drawn fire of musketry, that I could not 
conceive any thing like it. We all shuddered at 
considering what a multitude of souls must be pass- 
ing into eternity. The poor ladies were in a dread- 
ful condition; every peal seemed to go through their 
hearts. I have just been endeavoring to do what 1 
can to keep up their spirits. The sound is now 
retiring; and the enemy are seen retreating along 
the low ground on the right towards the town." 

With the hope of being useful to the wounded 
and dying in the field of battle, Mr. Martyn after 
this period of torturing suspense went on shore; and 
in the following letter to Mr. Simeon, he states 
what he endured whilst engaged in that disinterested 
errand of -Ioyc and mercy. 



REV. HENRY MARTY N, 163 



Union, Table Bay, Jan, 7, 1806. 

"I embraced the opportunity of getting to the 
wounded men, soon after my landing. A party of 
the Company's troops Ave re ordered to repair to the 
field of battle, to bring away the wounded, under 
the command of Major # # *, whom I knew. By 
his permission, I attached myself to them, and 
marched six miles over a soft burning sand, till we 
reached the fatal spot. We found several but 
slightly hurt; and these we left for a while, after 
seeing their wounds dressed by a surgeon. A little 
onward were three mortally wounded. One of 
them, on being asked, 'where he was struck,' opened 
his shirt, and shewed a wound in his left breast. 
The blood which he was spitting, shewed that he 
had been shot through the lungs. As I spread a 
great coat over him, by the surgeon's desire, who 
passed on without attempting to save him, I spoke 
of the blessed Gospel, and besought him to look to 
Jesus Christ for salvation. He was surprised, but 
could not speak; and I was obliged to leave him, in 
order to reach the troops, from whom the officers, 
out of regard to my safety, would not allow me to 
be separated. Amongst several others, some wound- 
ed, and some dead, was Captain * * *, who was shot 
by a rifleman. We all stopped to gaze for a while, 
in pensive silence, over his pale body; and then pass- 
ed on to witness more proofs of the sin and misery 
of fallen man. Pescending into the plain, where 



164 MEMOIR OF 

the main body of each army had met, I saw some 
of the 59th, one of whom, a corporal, who some- 
times had sung with us, told me that none of the 
59th were killed, and none of the officers wounded. 
Some farm houses, which had been in the rear of 
the enemy's army, had been converted into an 
hospital for the wounded, whom they were bring- 
ing from all quarters. The surgeon told me, that 
there were already in the houses two hundred, 
some of whom were Dutch. A more ghastly 
spectacle than that which presented itself here 
I could not have conceived. They were ranged 
without and within the houses in rows, covered 
with gore. Indeed it was the blood which they 
had not had time to wash off, that made their ap- 
pearance more dreadful than the reality; for few 
of their wounds were mortal. The confusion was 
very great; and sentries and officers were so strict 
in their duty, that I had no fit opportunity of speak- 
ing to any of them, but a Dutch captain, with whom 
I conversed in French. After this, I walked out 
again with the surgeon to the field, and saw several 
of the enemy's wounded. A Hottentot, who had 
his thigh broken by a ball, was lying in extreme 
agony, biting the dust, calling down horrid impreca- 
tions in English upon the Dutch. I told him he 
ought to pray for his enemies; and after telling the 
poor wretched man of the Gospel, I begged him to 
pray to Jesus Christ. But our conversation was 
soon interrupted; for, in ihc absence of the surgeon. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 165 

who was gone back for his instruments, a Highland 
soldier, came up, and challenged me witli the words, 
•Who are you?' 'An Englishman.' 'No,' said he, 
'you are French,' and began to present his piece. 
As I saw that he was rather intoxicated, and did not 
know but that he might actually lire out of mere 
wantonness, I sprang up towards him, and told him, 
if he doubted my word, he might take me as his 
prisoner to the English camp, — but that I certainly 
was an English clergyman. This pacified him, and 
he behaved with great respect. The surgeon, on 
examining the wound, said the man must die, and so 
3eft him. At length, I found an opportunity of re- 
turning, as I much wished, in order to recover from 
distraction of mind, and give free scope to reflection. 
I lay down on the border of a clump of shrubs or 
bushes, with the field of battle in my view; and 
there lifted up my soul to God. Mournful as the 
scene was, I yet thanked God that he had brought 
me to see a specimen, though a terrible one, of what 
men by nature are. May the remembrance of this 
day ever excite me to pray and labor more for the 
propagation of the Gospel of peace. Then, shall 
men love one another. Nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more. The Blue Mountains, at a distance to 
the eastward, which formed the boundary of the 
prospect, were a cheering counterpart to what was 
immediately before me; for there I conceived my 
beloved and honored fellow-servants, companions in 



166 MEMOIR OF 

the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ*, to be 
passing the days of their pilgrimage far from the 
world, imparting the truths of the precious Gospel 
to benighted souls. Maj I receive grace to be a 
follower of their faith and patience; and do you 
pray, my brother, as I know that you do, that I may 
have a heart more warm, and a zeal more ardent 
in the glorious cause. I marched back, the same 
evening, with the troops. The surf on the shore 
was very high, but, through mercy, we escaped that 
danger. But when we came to our ship's station, 
we found she was gone: having got under weigh 
some hours before. The sea ran high. Our men 
were almost spent, and I was very faint from hunger; 
but, after a long struggle, we reached an Indiaman 
about midnight." 

For the detail of the events which succeeded 
that most distressing day, and the incidents which 
transpired during his continuance at the Cape, we 
refer to the Journal. 

January 10th. — "About five, the commodore 
fired a gun, which was instantly answered by all 
the men-of-war. On looking out for the cause, 
we saw the British flag flying on the Dutch fort. 
Pleasing as the cessation of warfare was, I felt con- 
siderable pain at the enemy's being obliged to give 
up their fort and town, and every thing else, as a 
conquered people, to the will of their victors. I 

* The Missionaries of the United Brethren at Grunekloof and Gnadental, 
aijd those belonging to the London Missionary Society at Belhelsdorp. 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 167 

hate the cruel pride and arrogance that makes 
men boast over a conquered foe. And every ob- 
servation of this sort which I hear cuts me to the 
very heart; whether from nature or from grace, I 
do not know; but I had rather be trampled upon 
than be the trampler. I could find it more agreea- 
ble to my own feelings to go and weep with the 
relatives of the men whom the English have killed, 
than Co rejoice at the laurels they have won." 

January 12. — Sunday. "Very unlike a Sabbath 
day: the whole morning, till dinner time, was taken 
up in working the ship from her place to a station 
nearer the shore. There were so few hands on 
board, that I was obliged to take my place at the 
capstan. The wind now blows a hurricane over 
Table Mountain. I feel myself a guilty creature. 
Hide not thy face from me, O God." 

January 13. — "Went on shore to Cape Town, 
and took lodgings. Walked about the Company's 
gardens, and General Jansen's, whose family I saw. 
I felt much for the unfortunate females. — From 
the first moment I arrived, I had been anxiously 
inquiring about Dr. Vanderkemp. I heard at 
last, to my no small delight, that he was now in 
Cape Town. But it was long before I could find 
him. At length I did. He was standing outside 
of the house, silently looking up at the stars. A 
great number of black people were sitting around. 
On my introducing myself, he led me in, and called 
for Mr. Read. I was beyond measure delighted 



168 memoir of 

at the happiness of seeing him too. The circum- 
stance of meeting with these beloved and highly 
honored brethren, so filled me with joy and grat- 
itude for the goodness of God's providence, that I 
hardly knew what to do." 

January 14. — "Continued walking with Mr. 
Head till late. He gave me a variety of curious 
information respecting the mission. He told me 
of his marvellous success amongst the Heathen — 
how he had heard them amongst the bushes pour- 
ing out their hearts to God. At all this, my 'soul 
did magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiced in 
God my Savior.' " 

"Walked with brother Read, and was so charm- 
ed with his spiritual behavior, that I fancied myself 
in company with David Brainerd. Sat at night in 
the open air, with Table Mountain before me, and 
endeavored to meditate on Isaiah xi, 2." 

January 19. — "I went to a church lately built for 
ihe instruction of slaves. There were about one 
hundred sent from fifty different families. A black, 
who was employed in lighting the candles, was point- 
ed out to me as one who was to go as a Missionary 
to Madagascar." 

January 20. — "Walking home, I asked Dr. Van- 
derkemp if he had ever repented of his undertaking. 
No, said the old man, smiling; and I would not ex- 
change my work for a kingdom." 

January 26. — "Dear Dr. Vanderkemp gav^e me a 
Syriac Testament, as a remembrance of him." 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 169 

January 27. — "Preached at the hospital. Many 
were in tears." I 

January 29. — "Walked with brother Read in 
t)ie gardens, and continued to have much conver- 
sation on the mission, on our conversion, and on the 
work of grace in the heart. How profitable and 
heart-enlivening is conversation on experimental re- 
ligion, when carried on without pride or display of 
great experience! Preached at the hospital. In my 
walk home, by the sea-side, I sighed at thinking of 
* .• ■* w ith whom I had stood on the shore before 
coming away, and of the long seas that were rolling 
betwixt us; but felt cheerful and strong in spirit to 
fulfil the word of God." 

January 30. — -"Rose at five and began to ascend 
Table Mountain at six, with S * * * and M * * * I 
went on chiefly alone. I thought on the Christian 
life — what uphill work it is — and yet there are 
streams flowing down from the top, just as there 
was water coming down by the Kloof, by which 
we ascended. Towards the top it was very steep, 
but the hope of being soon at the summit, encour- 
aged me to ascend very lightly. As the Kloof open- 
ed, a beautiful flame-colored flower appeared in a lit- 
tle green hollow, waving in the breeze. It seemed 
to me an emblem of the beauty and peacefulness of 
heaven, as it shall open upon the weary soul when 
its journey is finished, and the struggles of the death- 
bed are over. We walked up and down the whole 
length, which might be between two and three 
15 



170 MEMOIR OF 

miles, and one might be said to look round the 
world from this promontory. I felt a solemn awe 
at the grand prospect — from which there was nei- 
ther noise nor small objects to draw off mj atten- 
tion. I reflected, especially when looking at the 
immense expanse of sea on the East, which was to 
carry me to India, on the certainty that the name of 
Christ should at some period resound from shore to , 
shore. I felt commanded to wait in silence, and see 
how God would bring his promises to pass. We 
began to descend at half-past two. Whilst sitting 
to rest myself towards night, I began to reflect with 
death-like despondency on my friendless condition. 
Not that I wanted any of the comforts of life, but I 
wanted those kind friends who loved me, and in 
whose company I used to find such delight after my 
fatigues. And then, remembering that I should 
never see them more, I felt one of those keen 
pangs of misery that occasionally shoot across my 
breast. It seemed like a dream, that I had actually 
undergone banishment from them for life; or rather 
like a dream, that I had ever hoped to share the 
enjoyments of social life. But, at this time, I 
solemnly renewed my self-dedication to God, pray- 
ing that for his service I might receive grace, to 
spend my days in continued suffering, and separation 
from all I held most dear in this life — forever. — 
Amen. How vain and transitory are those pleas- 
ures which the worldliness of my heart will ever 
be magnifying into real good! The rest of the even- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 171 

ing, I felt weaned from the world, and all its con- 
cerns, with somewhat of a melancholy tranquillity.'' 

January 30. — "From great fatigue of body, was 
in doubt about going to the hospital, and very 
unwilling to go. However, 1 went, and preached 
with more freedom than ever I had done there. 
Having some conversation with Colonel * * # , I 
asked him 'whether, if the wound he had received 
in the late engagement had been mortal, his pro- 
faneness would have recurred with any pleasure to 
his mind on a death-bed.' He made some attempts 
at palliation — though in great confusion; but bore the 
admonition very patiently." — . 

February 4.— "Dr. Vanderkemp called to take 
leave. I accompanied him and brother Smith out 
of the town, with their two waggons. The dear 
old man shewed much affection, and gave me advice, 
and a blessing at parting. While we were standing 
to take leave, Koster, a Dutch Missionary, was 
just entering the town with his bundle, having been 
driven from his place of residence. Brother Read, 
also, appeared from another quarter, though we 
thought he had gone to sea. These, with Yons*, 
and myself, made up six Missionaries, who, in a few 
minutes, all parted again.*' 

In the commencement of the voyage from the 
Cape, which took place not many days after this 
short but most interesting meeting, Mr. Martyn's 
patience was exercised', as before, by the tedious- 

* The Missionary, probably, destined for Madagascar. 



J72 MEMOIR OF 

* 

jness of the passage — by sickness — and by languor. 
But whether tossed on that stormy sea which rears 
round the Cape — or becalmed in the midst of the 
Indian ocean — or enfeebled by the recurrence of 
illness and extreme relaxation — he received all with 
the meekest resignation, as the special appointment 
of his God. 

The violent and increasing opposition he experi- 
enced from many of the more intelligent part of 
the passengers, and the discouraging inattention he 
too often perceived amongst the other class of his 
hearers, caused him to "grieve on their account, and 
to humble himself before God." "I go down," he 
says, "and stand in the midst of a few, without 
their taking the slightest notice of me: Lord, it is for 
thy sake I suffer such slights — let me persevere not- 
withstanding." But though he mourned on their 
account, he was "contented to be left without fruit, 
if such were the will of God." Conscious of hav- 
ing delivered the message faithfullv, and trusting 
that, with respect to both descriptions of his audit- 
ors, he had commended himself to their conscien- 
ces, if he had not reached their hearts, his own 
peace of mind was not affected: and he affirms, that 
he was "as happy as he could be without more 
grace;" — representing himself as enjoying "peaceful 
thoughts — tender recollections — and happy pros- 
pects." — How could he fail of pleasantness and 
peace, when this was the genuine expression of the 
sentiments of his soul? "I am born for God only. 



REV. HENRY MARTY'S. 173 

Christ is nearer to me than father, or mother, or 
sister — a neare r relation— a more affectionate friend* 
and I rejoice to follow him and to love him. Bless- 
ed Jesus! thou art ail I want— a forerunner to me in 
all I ever shall go through, as a Christian — Minis- 
ter — or Missionary." 

The sickness with which the ship's company had 
been affected before reaching the Cape, prevailed 
now more extensively than ever. — Many fell a sacri- 
fice to the disorder, and amongst othez*s a devout 
soldier, with whom Mr. Martvn had often united in 
prayer and praises, and often conversed on the things 
of eternity. A mournful satisfaction it was to him 
to attend his Christian brother in his last illness, and 
afterwards to commit his body to the deep, in cer- 
tain expectation that the 'sea should give up her 
dead,' and he with him should enter into the joy of 
their Lord. "Thus," he says, "is my brother gone — 
he, with whom I had conversed on divine things, and 
sung, and prayed, is entered into that glory of which 
we used to discourse. To his multiplied sorrows 
upon earth, he has bid an everlasting adieu. May 
I follow his faith asd patience, till, with him, I 
inherit the promises." 

Falling in with the trade winds, the. fleet made 
quick progress towards India; and whilst the breezes 
wafted Mr. Martyn towards the destined scene of 
his labors, many a sigh did he continue to breathe 
under a sense of his own sinfulness and weakness; 
and many a petiiion did he pour forth for the nation 
'1j 



174 MEMOIR OF 

to whom he was sent. He felt it "good and suitable 
to walk through this world overwhelmed with con- 
trition and love — receiving with grateful content- 
ment every painful dispensation, because not worthy 
to enjoy the light of this world" — praying that 
"God would glorify himself with the gifts and gra- 
ces of all his creatures, and make him take his 
place at the bottom of them unnoticed, unknown, 
and forgotten." — "O when the spirit is pleased," 
said he, "to shew his creature but a few scattered 
specimens of his ungodly days, yea of his godly- 
ones — how universally and desperately wicked doth 
he appear. O that I knew how to be duly abased. 
What shall I think of myself in comparison of oth- 
ers? How ought I to kiss the \ery dust beneath 
their feet, from a consciousness of my inferiority; 
and in my thoughts of God, and his dealings with 
me, how ought I to be wrapped up in constant aston- 
ishment." — Then after setting apart a day for fast- 
ing and humiliation, he began to pray for the setting 
up of God's kingdom in the world, especially in 
India, and had such energy and delight in prayer as 
he never had before experienced. "My whole soul," 
he said, "wrestled with God. I knew not how to 
leave off crying to him to fulfil his promises, chiefly 
pleading his own glorious power. I do not know 
that any thing would be a heaven to me but the 
service of Christ, and the enjoyment of his presence. 
O how sweet is life when spent in his service! I am 
going upon a work immediately according 4o the 



REV, HENRY MARTYN. 175 

mind of Christ, and my glorious Lord, whose power 
is uncontrollable, can easily open a way for his 
feeble follower through the thickest of the ranks of 
his enemies. And now, on let me go, smiling at my 
foes— how small are human obstacles before this 
mighty Lord! How easy is it for God to effect his 
purposes in a moment. What are inveterate preju- 
dices when once the Lord shall set to his hand! In 
prayer, I had a most precious view of Christ, as a 
friend that sticketh closer than a brother. O how 
sweet was it to pray to him. I hardly knew how to 
contemplate with praise enough his adorable excel- 
lencies. Who can shew forth all his praise? I can 
conceive it to be a theme long enough for eternity. 
I want no other happiness — no other sort of heav- 
en." — With such holy, humble, and heavenly senti- 
ments as these did Mr. Martyn approach the shores 
of Indostan; and going as he was into the vineyard 
of S. Bartholemew and Pantenus. of Ziegenbalfir 
and Swartz, it was in their spirit that he prepared 
to enter upon his labors. 

On the good Friday shortly preceding his arrival 
in India, and which he passed in prayer and fasting, 
he represents himself as enjoying throughout a most 
blessed and serene view of Christ. The word of 
God was very sweet to him, whilst reading the ac- 
count of the suffering and death of Jesus. He was 
entirely withdrawn from all other concerns, and 
felt his soul cleaving to Christ, his Savior, in tender 
seriousness — thankful that such days have been set 



176 MEMOIR OF 

apart by the Church. "In praying that God would 
no longer delay exerting his power in the conversion 
of the Eastern nations, I felt emboldened," he ob- 
serves, "to employ the most familiar petitions, by 
Isa. Ixii, 6, 7. Blessed be God for those words. 
They are like a cordial to my spirits; because if the 
Lord is not pleased by me, or during my life-time, to 
call the Gentiles, yet he is not offended at my being- 
urgent with him, that the kingdom of God may 
come." 

On the 19th April, Ceylon w T as discovered, which 
Mr. Martyn describes as presenting a long range of 
hills, running North and South, broken in a pictur- 
esque manner, though not lofty, with low lands be- 
tween the hills and sea, covered with trees: and 
whilst the breezes from the Island regaled his 
senses with their soothing and refreshing fragrancy, 
his mind was filled with a train of delightful antici- 
pations — he was thinking of the time when the name 
of Jesus should be as ointment poured forth, in tem- 
ples raised by Cingalese, amidst their cinnamon 
groves — and when supplications should there as- 
cend, like clouds of incense, through the merits of 
the Redeemer. 

The Sunday after this, presuming it would be the 
last, Mr. Martyn addressed the ship's company in a 
farewell discourse. The occasion, it might have 
been conceived, was such as to preclude any dispo- 
sition to ridicule, even with men pre-eminently dis- 
posed to scoffing and contempt. But those who 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 177 

had reviled bim at first, continued to revile him to 
the very last, "it pained me," he remarked, "that 
they should give a ridiculous turn to any thing on so 
affecting an occasion as parting for ever in this life. 
But such is the unthankful office of a minister. Yet 
I desire to take the ridicule of men with all meek- 
ness and charity, looking forward to another world 
for approbation and reward." 

And now, after a wearisome interval of above 
nine months, from the time of his leaving Ports- 
mouth, the land appeared which Mr. Marty n had 
so ardently longed to behold: on the 21st of April 
"his eyes were gratified with the sight of India." 

April 22. — "At sun-rise, we anchored," he says 
"in Madras roads. Several doobashees, or inter- 
preters, came on board, dressed in white muslin. 
I went ashore in one of the country boats, made 
very high, in order to weather the surf; with the 
boards throughout sewed together very coarsely 
with straw, and the interstices filled with it. On 
shore I was surrounded by an immense crowd of 
coolies, I suppose two hundred, who caught up one 
box after another, and were going off in different 
directions, so that I was obliged to run instantly, 
and stop them; and having w T ith some difficulty got 
my things together, I went to the Custom-House, 
attended by four coolies, a doobashee, an umbrella 
carrier, and a bov or waiting man; all of whom at- 
tached themselves to me, without at all consulting me 
on the occasion. Nothing as yet struck me as re- 



178 !\IEMOIR OF 

markable in the country, for the novelty of it had 
been anticipated in what I had seen at St. Salvador; 
The number of black people was immense, and the 
crowd of servants so great, that one would suppose 
they thought themselves made for the service of 
the English. The elegance of their manners I was 
much taken with; but, in general, one thought 
naturally occurred, the conversion of their poor 
souls. I felt a solemn sort of melancholy at the 
sight of such multitudes of idolaters. While the 
turbaned Asiatics waited upon us at dinner, about 
a dozen of them, I could not help feeling as if we 
had got into their places. But now, that I am 
actually treading Indian ground, let me bless and 
adore my own God for doing so much for me; and 
Oh! if I live, let me have come hither for some 
purpose.' 9 

April 26. — "Towards night, I walked out with 
Samees, my servant, in a pensive mood; and went 
through his native village Chindaput. — Here all 
was Indian. — No vestige of any thing European. — 
It consisted of about two hundred houses — those in 
the main street connected — and those on either 
fide of the street separated from one another by- 
little winding paths. Every thing presented the 
appearance of wretchedness. I thought of my 
future labors among them with some despondency; 
yet I am willing, I trust, through grace, to pass my 
days among them, if by any means these poor people 
may be brought to God. The sight of men, women. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 179 

and children — all idolaters, makes me shudder, as 
in the dominions of the Prince of darkness. I fancy 
the frown of God is visible. There is something 
peculiarly awful- in the stillness that prevails. — 
Whether it is the relaxing influence of the climate, 
>or what, I do not know; but there is every thing 
here to depress the spirits; alferature droops." 

Aoril 27 — Sunday. "Enjoyed some solemn mo- 
ments this morning. This is my first Sabbath in 
India. May all the time I pass in it be a Sabbath 
of heavenly rest and blessedness to my soul. — 
Preached on Luke x, 41, 42; there was attention. 
After dinner went to Black Town to Mr. Love- 
lace's Chapel. I sat in the air at the door, enjoy- 
ing the blessed sound of the Gospel on an Indian 
shore, and joining with much comfort in the song of 
divine praise.' 5 

April 28. — "Had much conversation with Dr. 
Kerr. At night the Portuguese children sung 'Be- 
fore Jehovah's awful throne' very sweetly: it ex- 
cited a train of affecting thoughts in my mind. 'Wide 
as the world is thy command' — and therefore it is 
easy for thee to spread abroad thy holy name. But 
oh, how gross the darkness here! The vail of the 
covering cast over ail nations seems thicker here; 
the fiends of darkness seem to sit in sullen repose in 
this land." 

April 30. — "Walked by moonlight, reflecting on 
the Mission. My soul was at first sore tried with 
desponding thoughts; but God wonderfully assisted 



180 MEMOIR OF 

me to trust him for the wisdom of his dispensations. 
Truly therefore, I will say again, 'Who art thou, O 
great mountain; before Zerubbabel thou shalt be- 
come a plain.' How easy for God to do it; and it 
shall be done in due time: and even if I never should 
see a native converted, God may design, by my patience 
and continuance in //# work, to encourage future Mis- 
sionaries, But what surprises me is the change of 
views I have here from what I had in England. 
There my heart expanded with hope and joy at the 
prospect of the speedy conversion of the Heathens; 
but, here, the sight of the apparent impossibility 
requires a strong faith to support the spirits." 

After being detained a short time at Madras, the 
fleet sailed for the Hoogley; during which voyage 
Mr. Martyn again suffered, indescribably, from the 
relaxation of his frame. He rose in the morning 
with the deepest melancholy, and seemed, as he 
expresses it, left without a motive. "He looked 
forward to an idle worthless life spent in India to 
no purpose. Exertion seemed to him like death — 
indeed absolutely impossible. But it pleased God 
at length to give him deliverance, by enabling him 
to exercise faith, and to remember that, as a sinner 
saved, he was bound to evince the most fervent 
gratitude to God. 

The great Pagoda of Juggernaut, now becoming 
distinctly visible, was a sight sufficient to rouse Mr. 
Martyn from almost any depths of depression, either 
of body or mind. Contemplating that horrid altar 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. IB I 

of blood and impurity, his^soul was excited to sen- 
timents of the tenderest commiseration for the child- 
ren of wretched India, "who had erected such a 
monument of her shame on the coast, and whose 
Heathenism stared the stranger in his face." 

Leaving Juggernaut behind, a tremendous hurri- 
cane, such as is often experienced in those latitudes, 
descended on the fleet, and, in an instant, every sail 
of the Union was rent in pieces. All was uproar 
in the ship: nor was there resource but to run be- 
fore the gale; which, had they been farther on their 
way, must have driven them upon some sand-banks 
at the mouth of the Hoogley. Incessant lightning 
rendered the scene more dreadful. When nature 
began to shrink at dissolution, Mr. Martyn was 
much reconciled, he says, to it, by such thoughts as 
these. "What have I here? Is it not better to 
go, and to be with Jesus, and to be free from my 
body of sin and death?" But, for the sake cf the 
poor unconverted souls in the ship, he adds, "I pray- 
ed earnestly for her preservation." 

To this danger, from which Mr. Martyn was 
mercifully delivered, another of a yet more formid- 
able nature succeeded, when he was entered the 
mouth of the Hoogley, and was rejoicing in the 
happy termination of an eventful voyage. 

On the 13th of May, the Union struck on a 

sand-bank near the Diamond Harbor; where her 

situation was awfully dangerous: for night came 

on, and the wind increased. The vessel was coi> 

16 



182 MEMOIR OF 

sidered by the Captain as lost, and all the passengers 
were in the utmost terror. Mr. Martyn "retired 
for prayer, and found his soul in peace;" nor was 
the fervent prayer of this righteous man ineffectual. 
After continuing in extreme peril for two hours, 
the ship very unexpectedly floated into deep water: 
thus being yet more deeply convinced that in God 
and in his hand were all his ways, and having his 
heart humbled in thankfulness to him as the author 
of all his mercies, Mr. Martyn arrived at Calcutta, 
from whence he thus disclosed the sentiments of his 
heart to a beloved Christian friend: — 

"My long and wearisome voyage is concluded, 
and I am at last arrived in the country, where I 
am to spend my days in the work of the Lord. 
Scarcely can I believe myself to be so happy as to 
be actually in India; yet this hath God wrought. 
Through changing climates, and tempestuous seas, 
he hath brought on his feeble worm to the field of 
action; and will, I trust, speedily equip me for my 
work. I am now very far from you all, and as 
often as I look round and view the Indian scenery, 
I sigh to think of the distance that separates us. 
Time, indeed, and reflection have, under God, 
contributed to make the separation less painful; 
yet still my thoughts recur with unceasing fond- 
ness to former friendships, and make the duty of 
intercession for you a happy privilege. Day and 
night, I do not cease to pray for you, and I am 
willing to hope that you too remember me daily at 



REV. HEXRY MARTYN. 183- 

the throne of grace. Let us not, by any means, 
forget one another; nor lose sight of the day of 
our next meeting. We have little to do with the 
business of this world. Place and time have not 
that importance in our views that they have in 
those of others; and, therefore, neither change of 
situation nor lapse of years should weaken our 
Christian attachments. I see it to be my business 
to fulfil as a hireling, my day; and, then, to leave 
the world. Amen. We shall meet in happier 
regions. I believe that those connexions, and com- 
forts, and friendships, I have heretofore so desired, 
though they are the sweetest earthly blessings, are 
earthly still." 



MEMOIR. 



PART II. 



•For many years supplications had incessantly $e>- 
cended up to heaven from Christians in India, for 
the spiritual prosperity of that benighted land; and 
for a considerable time a stated weekly meeting had 
been held at Calcutta, on the recommendation of 
Dr. Buchanan and Mr. Brown, for the express pur- 
pose of beseeching the Lord to send forth laborers 
into those fields which were white unto the harvest 
What a manifest answer to these petitions was the 
appearance of Mr. Martyn amongst those, who, to 
this effect, had been offering up their prayers. — 
One* of these, a name dear to all who admire zeal. 

* Dr. Buchanan. 



REV. HENRY MART*** 135 

integrity, liberality, and an entire consecration of 
bright talents in the cause of Christian philanthropy, 
was now about to commence his researches into the 
state of religion amongst the Syrian Christians: and 
the ship which conveyed him on that interesting 
errand left the mouth of the Hoogley as the Union 
entered it. To him, doubtless, the sight of Mr. 
Martyn w T ould have seemed an answer to prayer. 
demanding the warmest thanksgiving: the voice of 
a Christian Missionary would have been sweeter in 
his ears than those sounds which he afterwards 
heard in Travancore, from the bells amongst the 
hills, and which reminded him of another country. 

At Aldeen, near Calcutta, the residence of the 
Rev. David Brown, Mr. Martyn was received and 
welcomed with all that cordiality of affection which 
characterises the genuine servants of the Lord 
Jesus. Finding in him a spirit eminently congenial 
with his own, he gladly became one of his dear fam- 
ily, as he expresses it, and his days passed delight- 
fully. — In order that he might enjoy as much retire- 
ment as he deemed necessary, Mr. Brown prepared 
a pagoda for his habitation: it was situate en the 
edge of the river, at no great distance from the 
house, and there the vaulted roof was so changed 
from its original destination as often to re-echo the 
voice of prayer and the songs of praise: and Mr. 
Martyn triumphed and rejoiced, that the '-place 
where once devils were worshipped, was no v.' be- 
come a Christian oratory." — 
*16 



186 MEMOIR OF 

Soon after his being fixed at Aldcen, his affec- 
tionate friends there became seriously alarmed at 
an attack of fever which he experienced. His 
illness was of some continuance, and in it he was 
assaulted by a temptation more dangerous than 
uncommon — a temptation to look to himself for 
some qualification with which to approach the Sa- 
vior — for something to warrant his confidence in 
him, and hope of acceptance from him. — Search- 
ing for evidences for the purpose of ascertaining 
whether we are in Christ, widely differs from 
searching for them to warrant a boldness of access to 
Christ: for this we require no evidence; but need only 
the passport of faith, and the plea of our own 
wretchedness: and as it is the design of our great 
adversary (such is his subtil ty) to lead us to deny 
the evidences of faith altogether — so it is his pur- 
pose to betray us into a legal and mistaken use of 
them. We find Mr. Martyn at this time expressing 
himself thus: — "I could derive no comfort from re- 
flecting on my past life. Indeed exactly in propor- 
tion as I looked for evidences of grace, I lost that 
brokenness of spirit I wished to retain, and could not 
lie with simplicity at the foot of the cross. I really 
thought that I was departing this life. I began to 
pray as on the verge of eternity: and the Lord was 
pleased to break my hard heart. I lay in tears 
interceding for the unfortunate natives of this coun- 
trv; thinking with myself that the most despicable 



\ 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 187 

Soodar of India was of as much value in the sight 
of God as the King of Great Britain." 

So pleasantly and sweetly, after his recovery, did 
the current of Mr. Martyn's days pass on at Aldeen 
and Calcutta, that he began to fear, lest the agree- 
able society he met with there should induce a 
softness of mind, and an indisposition to solitude and 
bold exertion. Of this society he remarks, "I felt 
sometimes melancholy at the thought that I should 
soon be deprived of it. Bat alas! why do I regret 
it? Sweet is human friendship — sweet is the com- 
munion of saints — but sweeter far is fellowship 
with God on earth, and the enjoyment of the soci- 
ety of his saints in heaven." 

The city of Calcutta was a place so evidently 
suited to that order of talent with which Mr. Mar- 
tyn was endowed, that it is not to be wondered that 
the solicitations of his Christian friends there should 
pour in upon him at this time, with the view of per- 
suading him to continue amongst them in a sphere 
which they considered so well adapted for the exer- 
cise of his ministry. But it was truly said of him 
by one* now before the throne with him in the 
world of light — 'that "he had a spirit to follow 
the steps of Brainerd and Swartz;" and "to be 
prevented going to the Heathen," he himself re* 
marked on this occasion, "would almost have broken* 
his heart." 

* Dr. Buchanan— Christian Researches 



188 MEMOIR OF 

In the vicinity of Aldeen, indeed, he witnessed, 
with horror, the cruel rites and debasing idolatries 
of Heathenism. The blaze of a funeral pile caused 
him one day to hasten and endeavor, if possible, to 
rescue an unfortunate female, who was consumed 
before he could reach the spot. In a dark wood, 
at no great distance from Serampore, he heard the 
sounds of the cymbals and drums, summoning the 
poor natives to the worship of devils — sounds which 
pierced his heart: and before a black image, placed 
in a pagoda, with lights burning around it, he be- 
held his fellow-creatures prostrating themselves, 
with their foreheads to the earth — a sight which 
he contemplated with an overwhelming compassion, 
whilst "he shivered," he says, "as standing as it were 
in the neighborhood of hell." 

Scenes so affecting as these might have pleaded 
with him effectually in favor of the proposition of 
his friends, had he not remembered, that all these 
things happened at no great distance from Aldeen, 
Serampore, and Calcutta — from whence many a 
holy man of God had already come forth, and would 
again come forth, crying out to the wretched idola- 
ters, "why do ye such things" — "behold the Lamb 
of God which taketh away the sins of the world." 

Detained as Mr. Martyn unavoidably was at this 
time, from what he considered his especial employ- 
ment, he applied himself more ardently than ever 
to the acquisition of Hindoostanee, availing himself 
of the assistance of a Cashmirian Brahmin, wliom 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 189 

he wearied with his unbending assiduity. He was 
also instant in preaching the Gospel to his country- 
men, both in the Mission Church and New Church 
in Calcutta. 

His first discourse at the New Church, on 1 Cor. 
i, 23, 24, occasioned a great sensation, of a kind very 
different indeed from that which he heartily de- 
sired, but which, from the treatment to which he 
had been accustomed on board the ship, he was 
prepared to expect. The plain exhibition of the 
doctrines of the Gospel was exceedingly offensive to 
many of his hearers. Nor did the ferment thus ex- 
cited subside quickly, as it often does, into pity or con- 
tempt. He had the pain very shortly after, of being 
personally attacked from the pulpit by some of his 
brethren, whose zeal hurried them into the violation, 
not only of an express canon of the Church, but of 
the yet higher law of Christian charitv, and led 
them to make an intemperate attack upon him and 
upon many of the truths of the Gospel. Even when 
he was himself present at Church, Mr. * * * spoke 
with sufficient plainness of him and of his doctrines, 
calling them inconsistent, extravagant and absurd; 
drawing a vast variety of false inferences from them, 
and thence arguing against them — declaring, for 
instance, that to affirm repentance to be the gift of 
God — and to teach that nature is wholly corrupt, 
was to drive men to despair — that to suppose the 
righteousness of Christ sufficient to justify, is to 
make it unnecessary to have any of our own. — 



\90 MEMOIR OF 

Though compelled to listen to this downright heresy; 
to hear himself described as knowing neither what 
he said, nor whereof he affirmed — and as speaking 
only to gratify self-sufficiency, pride, and uncharita- 
bleness, — "I rejoiced," said this meek and holy man 
thus unjustly aspersed, "to receive the Sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper afterwards — as the solemnities 
of that blessed ordinance sweetly tended to soothe 
any asperity of mind; and I think that I administer- 
ed the cup to * * * and *■* * with sincere good- 
will." When exposed to a similar invective from 
another preacher, who commenced a public opposi- 
tion to him, by denouncing his last sermon in partic- 
ular as a rhapsoda — as unintelligible jargon — as an 
enigma; declaring that the epistles of St. Paul were 
addressed to Heathens alone, and that if St. Paul 
could look down from heaven, and see what use was 
made of his words to distress and agitate the minds 
of men, he would grieve at such perversions; and 
who, in addition to this, pointedly addressed Mr. 
Martyn, and charged him with the guilt of distress- 
ing and destroying those for whom Christ died, 
with taking away their only hope, and driving them 
to mopishness, melancholy, and despair — and finally, 
with depriving them of the only consolation they 
could have on a death-bed, — he again observes, "we 
received the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and 
I was glad of the blessed ordinance, as it tended 
much to compose my mind, and soften it to compas- 
sion and love towards all mankind-." 






"£EV. HENRY MARTYN. 191 

But, if Mr. Martyn had abundant reason to be 
grieved and pained at the conduct of some of his 
brethren at Calcutta, he had no small satisfaction in 
the wise and temperate line pursued by another 
Chaplain in this season of doubtful and distressing 
disputation; who, perceiving that the doctrines of 
the Church of England were becoming a matter 
of warm and general controversy, adopted the 
admirable plan of simply reading the Homilies to 
the congregation — thus leaving the Church author- 
itatively to speak for herself and affording to all 
classes, an opportunity of deciding which of the 
parties was in accordance with her incomparable 
formularies — Mr. Martyn or his opposers. Mr. 
* * *, he says, to the great satisfaction of all serious 
people, began to read a Homily by way of sermoa; 
after stating the diversity of opinion which had 
lately prevailed in the pulpit, and again "at the New 
Church, I read, and Mr. * * * preached the second 
and third parts of the 'Homily on Salvation.' The 
very clear exhibition of divine truth which was thus 
presented was very rejoicing to our hearts." 

Attached as Mr. Martyn was to the Church of 
England, he was far from either the apathy or the 
jealousy in which too many are apt to indulge, re- 
specting the interests of other Christian communi- 
ties. Very decidedly did he differ in some impor- 
tant points from the Baptists. But it was with the 
sincerest grief that he heard, during his abode at 
Aideen, of an order issued by the Government 



]92 MEMOIR OP 

(though it proved afterwards that he was misinform- 
ed) to prevent their preaching and distributing tracts. 
So perplexed and excited was he by the intelligence, 
that it even deprived him of sleep; and he spoke 
afterwards with so much vehemence against the 
measures of Government as, upon reflection, to 
afford him matter for self-condemnation. — "I know 
not," he said, "what manner of spirit I am of; I 
fancy, it is ail zeal for God; but what a falsehood is 
this? I am severe against a Governor, not making 
allowances for what he knows. O does it become 
me to be judging others? Did Jesus canvass the pro- 
ceeding of Government with the spirit of one of 
this world? I pray to be preserved from ever fall- 
ing into this snare again. May I, with poverty of 
spirit, go on my way; and never again trouble my- 
self with what does not belong to me! I trust I 
shall be able to distinguish between zeal and self- 
will. Let me never fancy 1 have zeal till my heart 
overflows with love to every mxin living" 

On the 13th of September Mr. Martyn received 
his appointment to Dinapore; by which time, not- 
withstanding all his vigilance, the comforts of the 
life he had been leading, had so far won upon him, 
that he suffered much at the thoughts of his removal. 
"It is an awful and arduous thing," said he, "to root 
out every affection to earthly things, so as to live for 
another world. I was astonished at the attachment 
I felt for earthly things. The happiness of invisi- 
ble and eternal things seemed -something like a 



REV. HENRY MARTYJS. 193 

dream; the faint remains of what I had formerly 
known. In great melancholy, I determined, before 
God, to leave this wretched world once more; but 
my soul was greatly cast down. The affections 
were entwined around something or other here-, so 
that it appeared like death to be torn from it." So 
far, however, was he from yielding to selfishness or 
sloth, that, as the day of his departure drew near, 
he stirred himself up to the consideration of the 
greatness of his calling, and panted to begin his 
work. 

At the beginning of October, Mr. Martyn pre- 
pared to leave that Christian family, in whose bosom 
he had received such unremitted kindness; but not 
before he had welcomed the joyful arrival of two 
more fellow laborers from England, who, following 
his bright track and imitating his self-denying exam- 
ple, had turned their backs on the beloved land of 
their nativity. This was an inexpressible joy to his 
heart. "I went down," (says he in his Journal) "to 
Calcutta, where we had the happiness of meeting 
our dear brethren. I rode out with them in the 
evening, and passed most of the time in conversing 
about European friends." And when afterwards he 
heard one of them (Mr. Corrie) preach, he thus 
expresses himself: — "God be praised for another 
witness to his truths. may abundant grace and 
gifts rest on my beloved brother, that the works of 
God may shew themselves forth in him." — By these 
various circumstances, together with the letters 
17 



194 MEMOIR OP 

which at the same time he received from those to 
whom he was so attached in England, his affections 
of love and joy were excited to such a degree, that 
it was almost too much for his frame. 

A few days before he left Aldeen, several of Mr. 
Martyn's friends came together to his pagoda, in 
order that they might unite with him in imploring a 
blessing on his intended labors. Such a meeting 
could not fail of being highly interesting, and it was 
not the less so from a recollection of the place in 
which they were assembled — a Christian congrega- 
tion in a building which once had been an idol tem- 
ple, seemed to supply a consolatory pledge as well 
as a significant emblem of what all earnestly prayed 
for, and confidently anticipated, in poor idolatrous 
India. "My soul," said Mr. Martyn, "never yet had 
such divine enjoyment. I felt a desire to break 
from the body, and join the high praises of the 
saints above. May I go 'in the strength of this, 
many days' — Amen. 'My soul doth magnify the 
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.' 
How sweet to walk with Jesus — to love him — and 
to die for him. 'Surely goodness and mercy shall 
follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell 
in the house of the Lord for ever.' " And again, 
the next day, he says — "The blessed God has again 
visited my soul in his power, and all that was within 
me blessed his holy name. I found my heaven 
begun on earth. No work so sweet as that of 
praying, and living wholly to the service of God." 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 195 

On the 15th October, after taking leave of the 
Church at Calcutta in a farewell discourse, and of 
the family at Aldeen in an exposition at morning 
worship, Mr. Martyn entered his budgerow*, 
which was to convey him to Dinapore; and sailed 
up the Ganges, accompanied by his brethren, Mr. 
Broy/n, Mr. Corrie, and Mr. Parsons. Mr. Marsh- 
man,t seeing them pass by the Mission House, 
couid not resist joining the party; and, after going a 
little way, left them with prayer. At night, Mr. 
Martyn prayed with his brethren in the vessel; and 
the next day they devoted the whole morning to re- 
ligious exercises. "How sweet is prayer," said he, 
"to my soul at this time. I seem as if I could never 
be tired, not only of spiritual joys, but of spiritual 
employments, since these are now the same." 

The day after, the weather becoming tempests 
ous, his brethren sorrowfully and reluctantly left 
him to prosecute his voyage alone. Before they 
parted, however, they spent the whole morning (to 
use his own words) in a divine ordinance, in which 
each of them read a portion of Scripture, and all 
of them sung and prayed. "Mr. Brown's passage, 
chosen from the 1st Joshua, was very suitable, said 
Mr. Martyn — 'Have I not sent thee?' Let this be 

* A budgerow is "a travelling boat constructed like a pleasure-barge. 
Some have cabins fourteen feet Avide, and proportionably long, and draw 
from four to five feet water. From seventeen to twenty miles a day is the 
greatest distance a large budgerow can be towed against the stream duriog 
the fair season." Rexxel. 

|One of the Baptist Missionaries. 



196 MEMOIR OF 

an answer to my fears, O my Lord, that I am in thy 
work, and that therefore I shall not go forth at my 
own charges, or fight any enemies hut thine. It was 
a very affecting season to me — but in prayer I was 
far from a state of seriousness and affection." 

44 1 was left alone (he writes, October 17, in his 
Journal) for the first time with none but natives. 
The wind and rain became so violent,* that the men 
let the budge row stay upon the shore the whole 
day, which, in consequence of beating on the ground, 
leaked so much that the men were obliged to be in 
my cabin to bale her. Read with Moonshee one of 
the tracts which he had himself translated from the 
Bengalee into verse. Perceiving him to be alarmed 
at the violence of the waves beating against the 
boat, I began to talk to him about religion. He be- 
gan by saying, 'May God be our Protector,' — this 
was a favorable beginning. The hurricane abated 
before midnight, through mercy." 

Oct. 18. — "Reading hard all day — wrote out 
a list of the errata in one of the tracts, and read 
Sanscrit Grammar. In the evening, walked along 
the bank with my gun, and fired at some wild fowl, 
which the servants ate. At night, read part of a 
Nagree tract with Moonshee. Learnt some Ara- 
bic roots. Felt an occasional depression of spirits; 
hut prayer instantly removed it: so that, in general^ 
I was near to God and happy." 

* "The North-westers are the most formidable enemies that are met with 
fii this inland navigation — whole fleets of trading boats have been sunk by 
them almost instantaneously. But it is in the great rivers alone, when in- 
sreased in width, that thev are the most formidable." — Rtyxrr, 



RET. HENRY MARTYN. 197 

Oct. 19— Sunday.— "The first solitary Sabbath 
spent amongst the Heathen: but my soul not for- 
saken of God. The prayers of my dear friends 
were instant for me this day I well perceive: and a 
great part of my prayer was occupied in delightful 
intercession for them. The account of the fall of 
man in the first chapter in Genesis, and of his resto- 
ration by Christ, was unspeakably affecting to my 
soul. Indeed every thing I read seemed to be car- 
ried home with ineffable sweetness and power by 
the Spirit to my soul; and all that was within me 
blessed his holy name. In the afternoon, sent to 
the Moonshee that he might hear the Gospel read, 
or read it himself. Began Mark — but our conver- 
sation turning from Christianity to Mahomedanism, 
became deadening to my spirit. — Our course to-day 
was still along the Eastern bank; which seems to 
have been lately the bed of the river, and bare of 
trees for a considerable distance from the water. 
The Western bank covered with wood. In my 
evening: walk saw three skeletons." 

Oct. 20. — "Employed all day in translating the 
first chapter of the Acts into Hindoostanee. I did 
it with some care; and wrote it all out in the Per- 
sian character; yet still I am surprised I do so Yittle, 
In my morning walk shot a bird, with a beautiful 
plumage, called a Culean; and, in the evening, a 
large bird, called a Minca. — Putting my gun into the 
boat, I walked into the village where the boat gto]> 
ped for the night; and found the worshippers of 
•17 



198 



MEMOIR OF 



Cali by the sound of their drums and cymbals. I 
did not think of speaking to them, on account of 
their being Bengalees. But, being invited to walk 
in by the Brahmins, I walked in within the railing, 
and asked a few questions about the Idol. The 
Brahmin, who spoke bad Hindoostanee, disputed 
with great heat, and his tongue ran faster than I 
could follow; and the people, who were about one 
hundred, sliouted applause. But I continued to ask 
my questions, without making any remarks upon the 
answers. I asked, among other things, whether 
what I had heard of Vishnu and Brahma was true; 
which he confessed. I forebore to press him with 
the consequences, which he seemed to feel, and so I 
told him what was my belief. The man grew quite 
mild, and said it was chula bat (good words:) and 
asked me seriously at last what I thought — "was 
idol worship true or false?" I felt it a matter of 
thankfulness, that I could make known the truth of 
God, though but a stammerer; and that I had de- 
clared it in the presence of the devil. And this also 
I learnt, that the power of gentleness is irresistible. 
I never was more astonished than at the change of 
deportment in the hot-headed Brahmin. Read the 
Sanscrit grammar till bed-time. " 

Oct. 21. — "Morning at Sanscrit, without gaining 
any ground. Afternoon, with Moonshee, correct- 
ing Acts i; and felt a little discouraged at finding 
i still wrote so incorrectly, though much pleased at 
his great apparent desire of having it perfectly ac- 



REV. HENRY MARTY>\ 199 

curate. Though not joyful in my spirit as when 
my friends left me, I feel my God an all-satisfying 
portion; and find no want of friends. Read Genesis 
and Luke, at night in the Septuagint and Hindoos- 
tanee. Came to a desert place on the Western 
bank." 

Oct. 22. — "Shot a bird somewhat larger than a 
woodcock, and like it in taste, and a snipe. The 
Musalchee, who attended me, seeing an old man 
who had caught some fish, made a requisition of 
them. The old man understood the Musalchee's 
meaning better than I did; for he began to entreat 
me, saying, 'he was a poor man;' and was quite 
overjoyed to find that I had not given an order to 
plunder him, but meant to pay. I then recollected 
what Mr. Brown told me 'of the custom the ser- 
vants have of making requisitions from the natives 
in the name of their English masters. Alas, poor 
natives — how accustomed are they to injustice. 
They cannot believe their English masters to be 
better than their Mahometan." — 

"A Brahmin, of my own age, was performing 
his devotions to Gunga early this morning, when I 
was going to prayer. My soul was struck with the 
sovereignty of God, who, out of pure grace, had 
made such a difference in all the external circum- 
stances of our lives. O let not that man's earnest- 
ness rise up in judgment against me at the last 
day. — In the afternoon, they were performing the 
ceremony of throwing the effigies of Cali, £cllected 



200 MEMOIR OF 

from several villages, into the river. In addition 
to the usual music, there were trumpets. The 
objects of worship, which were figures in relief on 
the sector of a circle of about one hundred and 
twenty degrees, most gorgeously bedecked with 
tinsel, were kept under a little awning in their 
respective boats. As the budgerow passed through 
the boats, they turned so as to present the front of 
their goddess to me; and, at the same time, blew 
a blast with their trumpet, evidently intending to 
gratify me with a sight of what appeared to them 
so fine. Had their employment been less impious, 
I should have returned the compliment by look- 
ing, but I turned away. Yet I felt no tenderness 
of grief; nor in the morning did I feel any thing 
like due thankfulness to God's electing mercy, in 
making me thus to differ from the Brahmins. I 
have daily and hourly proofs of my corruption; for 
when does my heart come up to what my half-en- 
lightened understanding approves? Yet I intend, 
through grace, to continue praying to the end for 
their poor precious souls, that the kingdom of God 
may be set up here." 

"Came-to on the Eastern bank below a village 
called Ahgadeep. Wherever I walked, the women 
fled at the sight of me. Some men were sitting 
under the shed dedicated to their goddess; and a 
lamp was burning in her place. A conversation 
soon began; but there was no one who could speak 
Hindoostanee; so all I could sav was bv the medium 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 201 

of my mussulman Musalchec. They said, that they 
only did as others did; and, if they were wrong, 
then all Bengal was wrong;. I felt love for their 
souls, and longed for utterance to declare unto those 
poor simple people the holy Gospel. I think that 
when my mouth is opened, I shall preach to them 
day and night. I feel that they are my brethren in 
the flesh precisely on a level with myself." 

"In the morning about Sanscrit though still quite 
in the dark. Afternoon with Moonshee." 

October 22. — "The tow-rope broke, and we were 
hurried down the stream with great rapidity; the 
stream running seven miles an hour. We ran foul 
of several large boats; and I expected we should 
go to pieces. The people of the other boats would 
not afford the least help; so the Mangee and his 
assistant jumped over-board with a rope, and suc- 
ceeded in getting ashore, but were unable to stop 
her till she ran foul of another, which was made 
fast. Came-to at night on the Eastern bank. A 
delightful season to me, on account of the serenity 
of my mind, and of my happy and solemn reflections 
on the grace of my God towards his poor creature." 

"I thought at night more than usual of my dear 
*,. But the more I exaggerate these ideal joys, 
the more I treasure up subjects of woe. O what 
vanity has God written upon all things under the 
sun." — "As I returned late, I passed between the 
river and a party of jackalis: they kept at a little 
distance till we were passed." 



202 MEMOIR OF 

October 25. — "Passed the morning in writing out 
the rules of Sunclhi. Had a very solemn season of 
prayer, by the favor of God, over some of the chap- 
ters of Genesis, but especially the conclusion of the 
119th Psalm. — O that these holy resolutions and 
pious breathings were entirely my own! Adored be 
the never failing mercy of God! He has made my 
happiness to depend, not on the uncertain connexions 
of this life, but upon his own most blessed self — a 
portion that never faileth. — Came-to on the Eastern 
bank. The opposite side was very romantic — 
adorned with a stately range of very high forest 
trees, whose deep dark shade seemed impenetrable 
to the light. — In my evening walk enjoyed great 
solemnity of feeling, in the view of the world as a 
mere wilderness, through which the children of God 
are passing to a better country. It was a comfort- 
ing and a solemn thought, and was unspeakably 
interesting to me at the time — that God knew 
whereabouts his people were in the wilderness, and 
was supplying them with just what they wanted.'' 

4k On my return towards the boat, I saw a wild 
boar of very large size, gailopping parallel to the 
river. I had not a gun with me, or I might have 
killed him, as he was within reach of a fusee balL 
— In my budgerow found great delight in Hart's 
Hymns at night." 

October 26. — Sunday. "Passed this Lord's day 
with great comfort, and precious solemnity of soul. 
Glory to God for this grace! Reading the Scriptures 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 203 

and prayer took up the first part of the day. Al- 
most every chapter I read was blest to my soul — ■ 
particularly the last chapter of Isaiah: 'It shall 
come that I will gather all nations and tongues, and 
they shall come, and see my glory,' &c. Rejoice, 
my soul, in the sure promises of Jehovah. How 
happy am I when, in preparing for the work of 
declaring his glory among the Gentiles, I think 
many of the Lord's saints have been this day 
remembering their unworthy friend. I felt as if 
I could never be tired with prayer. In the after- 
noon, read one of Gibert's French Sermons — Bates 
on Death — and some Nagree Gospel. In the even- 
ing, we came-to on the Eastern bank. I walked 
into a neighboring village, with some tracts. The 
children ran away in great terror; and though 
there were some men, here and there, I found no 
opportunity or encouragement to try if there were 
any that could speak Hindoostanee: however, I 
felt vexed with myself for not taking more pains to 
do them good. Alas! while Satan is destroying 
their souls, does it become the servants of God to 
be lukewarm? — At night, read the third and fourth 
chapters of the Acts; and lost much time and spir- 
ituality by indulging ideas of schemes about the 
Gospel, which had more of romance and pride in 
them than of wisdom and humiliation." 

October 27. — "Arrived at Berhampore. In the 
evening, walked to see the cantonments at the hos- 
pital, in which there were one hundred and fifty 



204 MEMOIR OF 

European soldiers sick. I was talking to a man, 
said to be dying, when a surgeon entered. I 
went up, and made some apology for entering the 
hospital. It was my old schoolfellow and towns- 
man ;{; • *. The remainder of the evening he 
spent with me in my budgerow. He pressed me 
much to stay longer with him, which I refused, but, 
afterwards, on reflection, I thought it my duty to 
stay a little longer; thinking I might have an oppor- 
tunity of preaching to the soldiers." 

October 28. — "Rose very early, and was at the 
hospital at daylight. Waited there a long time, 
wandering up and down the wards, in hopes of in- 
ducing the men to get up and assemble: but it was 
in vain. I left three books with them; and went 
away, amidst the sneers and titters of the common 
soldiers. Certainly it is one of the greatest crosses 
I am called to bear, to take pains to make people 
hear me. It is such a struggle between a sense of 
propriety and modesty, on the one hand; and a 
sense of duty, on the other; that I find nothing equal 
to it. I could force my way any where, in order to 
introduce a brother minister; but, for myself, I act 
with hesitation and pain. Mr. # * * promised to ask 
the head surgeon's permission for me to preach; and 
appointed the hour at which I should come. I went 
there; but, after waiting two hours, was told that 
the surgeon was gone without being spoken to — and 
many other excuses were made. So, as it was now 
the heat of the dav, I saw it was of no use to make 



REV. HEXRY MARTVN. 205 

any more attempts; and, therefore, I went on my 
way. At night, from mere thoughtlessness, went on 
shore without tracts, and lost a better opportunity 
than I have yet had of distributing them among the 
people. My soul was dreadfully wounded at the 
recollection of it; and, O may the conviction of my 
wickedness rest upon my soul all my days! How 
many souls will rise up in judgment against me at 
the last day, God only knows. The Lord forgive 
my guilty soul — deliver me from blood guiltiness — 
and make me to remember for what purpose I 
came hither." 

October 29. — "Passed Cossim Buzar and Moor- 
shedabad, in the middle of the day; and so my reso- 
lutions of repairing my past negligence were de- 
feated, for we stopped at night where there was not 
a house. A party of boatmen I talked with; and 
begged them to take a tract; but I could not prevail 
upon them. Though they were Rajemahl people, 
I could not understand them, nor they me scarcely 
at all. I am grieved, and disappointed, and ashamed 
at this extraordinary backwardness in the language; 
but I hope not to be discouraged. Employed the 
whole day in translating Acts, chap, ii, and correcting 
it with Moonshee." 

Oct. 30.— "Employed the whole day, as yester- 
day, about the same chapter. Read also the Ram- 
ayuna,.and Sale's Introduction to the Koran. My 
views enlarge rapidly respecting the state of things 
among the Hindoos and Mahometans. — My soul was. 
18 



206 MEMOIR OF 

in a most awful state of impression: Satan was at 
work, and my soul found safety only in holding by 
God as a child clings to the neck of its mother. 
Thanks be to God that I have the witness in myself. 
*The anointing, which ye have received of him, 
abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach 
you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all 
things,' &c. O how refreshing and supporting to my 
soul was the holiness of the word of God — sweeter 
than the sweetest promise at this time was the con* 
stant and manifest tendency of the word, to lead men 
to holiness and the deepest seriousness. What a 
contrast to it is the mock majesty of the Koran, and 
the trifling indecent stuff of the Ramayuna. My 
whole soul seems, at present, engrossed in the work 
of being the messenger of truth; and, at every sea- 
son of prayer, I found a peculiar tenderness in pray- 
ing for these unenlightened people/' 

October 31. — "Passed a very populous village, 
called Jungipore." — 

"Stopped at night again in a desert place. Em- 
ployed as yesterday. Moonshee said, 'How can 
you prove this book (putting his hand on the Gos- 
pel) to be the word of God?' I took him to walk 
with me on the shore, that we might discuss the 
matter; and the result of our conversation was, 
that I discovered that the Mussulmen allow the 
Gospel to be, in general, the command of God, 
though the words of it are not His as the words of 
the Koran are; and contend that the actual words 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 207 

of God given to Jesus were burnt by the Jews — 
that they also admit the New Testament to have 
been in force till the coming of Mahomet. When 
T quoted some passages which proved this to be 
the final dispensation, he allowed it to be of course 
inconsistent with the divinity of the Koran, but 
said, 'then those words of the Gospel must ba 
false.' The man argued, and asked his questions 
seemingly in earnest; and another new impression 
was left upon my mind, that those men are not 
fools, and that all ingenuity and clearness of rea- 
soning are not confined to England and Europe. 
I seem to feel that these descendants of Ham are 
as dear to God as the haughty sons of Japheth: I 
feel, too, more at home with the Scriptures than 
ever: every thing I see gives light to, and receives 
it from, the Scriptures. I seem transported back 
to the ancient times of the Israelites and the 
Apostles." 

"My spirit felt composed, after the dispute, by 
simply looking to God as one who had engaged to 
support his own cause: and I saw it to be my 
part to pursue my way through the wilderness of 
this world, looking only to that redemption which 
daily draweth nigh. The same thoughts continued 
through the evening. I reflected, while looking at 
the stream gliding by, the smooth current of which 
shewed its motion only by the moon shining upon 
it, that all alike are carried down the stream of 
time — lha,f in a few years, there will be another 



208' MEMOIR OF 

generation of Hindoos, Mussulmen, and English ia 
this country: we are now but just speaking to one 
another as we are passing along. How should this 
consideration quell the tumult of anger and impa- 
tience, when I cannot convince men. O how feeble 
an instrument must a creature so short-sighted 
be. How necessary is it that God should be con- 
tinually raising up new instruments; and how easily 
can he do it — 'the government is on his shoulders.' 
Jesus is able to bear the weight of it; therefore, we 
need not be oppressed with care or fear: but a Mis- 
sionary is apt to fancy himself an Atlas/' 

November 1. — "Employed all day in translating 
the third chapter of the Acts. Came-to at a place 
where there was no house. For the first time since 
arriving in Bengal, saw some hills appearing in the 
N. W." 

November 2. — Sunday. "My mind was greatly 
oppressed, that I had done and was doing nothing in 
the way of distributing tracts. To free my con- 
science from the charge of unprofitableness and neg- 
lect, I wished to go ashore in the middle of the day, 
wherever I thought I might meet people; but did 
not land till we came-to on the bank of the Ganges, 
which we entered just before sun-set. Hills ap- 
peared from S. W. to N. W. Some of those were 
the Rajemahl hills. Walking on shore, I met with 
a \cvy large party; and entering into conversa- 
tion, I asked if any of them could read. One young 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 209 

man who seemed superior in rank to the rest, said 
'he could' — and accordingly read some of the only 
Nagree tract that I had. I then addressed myself 
boldly to them; and told them of the Gospel. — 
When speaking of the inefficacy of the religious 
practices of the Hindoos, I mentioned, as an exam- 
ple, the repetition of the name of Ram. The 
young man assented to this; and said, of what use is 
it? As he seemed to be of a pensive turn, and said 
this with marks of disgust, I gave him a Nagree Tes- 
tament — the first I have given. May God's bless- 
ing go along with it; and cause the eyes of multi- 
tudes to be opened! The men said they should be 
glad to receive tracts; so I sent them back a con- 
siderable number by the young man. The idea of 
printing the Parables, in proper order, with a short 
explanation subjoined to each, for the purpose of 
distribution, and as school-books, suggested itself to 
me to-night, and delighted me prodigiously." 

November 3. — "Crossed the river, in order to 
get to Chandry. But, the wind growing very 
strong, we were obliged to come-to by the sand- 
bank. Began my work of writing a few remarks on 
one of the Parables. Finished 'Sale's Preliminary 
Discourse to the Koran,' and read the Ramavuna. 
Arrived at CJiandry, and found * * * and *■-•■■* 
Walked with them over some of the ruins of Gour; 
a mosque, which was still standing entire, was in- 
deed worth seeing. We observed several monkies* 
and the print of a tiger's foot, 
*18 



210 MEMOIR OF 



November 4. — "After officiating at morning wor- 
ship, I went up with my friends in a boat to Gomalty 
* — stopping by the way to visit one of their schools 
at Mirdypore,* which much delighted me. The 
little boys seated cross-legged on the ground all 
round the room, read some of the New Testament 
to us. While they displayed their powers of read- 
ing, their fathers and mothers crowded in great 
numbers round the doors.*' 

November 5. — "Received letters from Mr. 
Brown, Corrie, and Parsons, which much revived 
me. At evening worship, discoursed from Isa. Ixiii, 1. 
My soul continued sweetly engaged with God; 
though the praises of the people of Calcutta were 
in some degree an interruption of that sweet peace, 
which is only to be found in being nothing before 
God. 5 ' 

November 7. — "This morning, after speaking on 
Acts xx, 32, I took my leave; and with Mr. * # * 
went in palanquins to Massamgung. Frequently 
cast down to-day. From want of diligent employ- 
ment, my thoughts had time to wander in search of 
some earthly good; but I found that recollection of 
what I deserved at the hands of God restored me to 
greater peace." 

November 8. — "Early this morning reached Ra- 
}emahJ, and walked to view the remains of its an- 
cient splendor. Gave a tract or two to a Brahmin: 

* Here are thirteen or fourteen yiUage schools, and in consequence a 
marked progress in civilizatioa. 



REV. HENRY MARTYX. 211 

but the Dak Moonshee, a Mussulman, when he re- 
ceived one of the Hindoostanee tracts, and found 
what it was, was greatly alarmed; and, after many 
awkward apologies, returned it, saying, that 'a man 
who had his leas in two different boats was in dan- 
ger of sinking between them.' Went on, much dis- 
couraged at the suspicion and rebuffs I meet with — 
or rather pained; for I feel not the less determined 
to use every effort to give the people the Gospel. 

that the Lord would pour out upon them a spirit 
of deep concern for their souls! — In a walk, at Raje- 
mahl, met some of the Hill people. Wrote down 
from their mouth some of the names of things. — 
From their appearance, they seem connected with 
the Hottentots and Chinese. Passed the day in 
correcting Acts, chap, iii, with Moonshee. At night, 
walked with Mr. G. into a village, where we met 
with some more of the Hill people. With one of 
them, who was a Manghee, or chief of one of the 
hills, I had some conversation in Hindoostanee; and 
told him that wicked men, after death, go to a place 
of fire: and good men, above to God. The former 
struck him exceedingly. He asked again, 'what? 
do they go to a place of great pain and fire? ? These 
people, he said, sacrifice oxen, goats, pigeons, &c. 

1 asked him, if he knew what this was for, and then 
explained the design of sacrifices; and told him of 
the Great Sacrifice — but he did not seem to under- 
stand me, and continued pensive after hearing that 
wicked men go to hell. He asked us. with great 



212 MEMOIR OF 

kindness to have some of his wild honey; which was 
the only thing he had to offer. How surprising is 
the universal prevalence of sacrifices! This cir- 
cumstance will, perhaps, he made use of for the 
universal conversion of the nations. How desirable 
that some Missionary should go among these people! 
No prejudices — none of the detestable pride and 
self-righteousness of their neighbors in the plains." 
November 9. — "Passed this Sabbath rather un- 
comfortably. With Mr. # **, I read several por- 
tions of the sacred Scriptures, and prayed in the 
afternoon. We reached Sicly gully, a point where 
the Rajemahl hills jut out into the Ganges. It was 
a romantic spot. We went ashore, and ascended 
an eminence to look at the ruins of a mosque. The 
grave and room over it of a Mussulman warrior, 
killed in battle, were in perfect preservation; and 
lamps are lighted there still every night. We saw 
a few more of the Hill people; one of whom had a 
bow and arrows; they were in a hurry to be gone; 
and went off, men, women, and children, into their 
native woods. As I was entering the boat, I hap- 
pened to touch with my stick the brass pot of one 
of the Hindoos, in which rice was boiling. So de- 
filed are we in their sight, that the pollution passed 
from my hand, through the stick and the brass, to 
the meat. He rose and threw it all away. — We 
read together at night an excellent sermon on 
2 Cor. v. 1." 



REV. HENRY MARTYR 213 

November 10. — "Employed most all the day in 
finishing the correction of the third of the Acts, 
with Moonshee, and in writing on some of the Par- 
ables. — Went on the North side of the river, and 
set Mr. G. ashore, and walked with him to a nulla, 
expecting to find his boat; but it not being ther^ 
we were obliged to walk back by night. Happily 
we procured a torch in a village near, and were 
thus preserved from the wild buffaloes, whose re- 
cent footsteps in tbe path gave us no small alarm. 
I am constantly preserved through the good provi- 
dence of the Lord. Employed in lessons of Per- 
sian, writing and reading Ramayuna." 

November 11. — "This morning, after prayer, Mr, 
G. took his leave. I returned to my work without 
interruption, with no small delight. The thought 
occurred to my mind very strongly — how much have 
I to learn of divine things, if the Lord will be 
pleased to teach me. I want, above all, a meek, 
serious, resigned, Christ-like spirit. May I have 
.grace to live above every human motive; simply 
with God, and to God; and not swayed, especially 
m the Mission work, by the opinions of people not 
acquainted with the state cf things, whose judg- 
ment may be contrary to my own. But it is a mat- 
ter of no small difficulty to keep one's eye from 
wandering to the Church in Calcutta and England." 

November 12. — "Employed all the day in trans- 
lating, in which work the time passes away pleas- 
antly and rapidly. — The cold mornings and even- 



214 MEMOIR OP 

ings begin to be very severe. Though the ther- 
mometer was only down to 61°, I should have been 
glad of a fire. It was 81° in the middle of the day. 
We passed this day out of Bengal info Bahar." 

November 13. — "This morning we passed Col- 
gong. I went ashore, and had a long conversation 
with two men. As I approached more and more 
to religi n, they were the more astonished; and 
when I mentioned the day of judgment, they looked 
at each other in the utmost wonder, with a look 
that expressed, 4 how should he know any thing 
about that.' I felt some satisfaction in finding my- 
self pretty well understood in what I said; but they 
could not read; and no people came near us, and so 
I had the grief of leaving this place without sup- 
plying it with one ray of light. I was much bur- 
dened with a consciousness of blcoj-gu'ltiness; and 
though I cannot doubt of my pardon by the blood 
of Christ, yet how dreadful the reflection, that any 
should perish who might have been saved by my 
exertions. Looking round this country, and reflect- 
ing upon its state, is enough to overwhelm the mind 
of a Minister or Missionary. When once my mouth 
is opened, how shall I ever dare to be silent? — Em- 
ployed as yesterday. At night met some boatmen 
on the bank, and a Fakir with them. I talked a 
good deal, and some things they understood. The 
Fakir's words I could scarcely understand. As he 
said he could read, and promised to read a Testa- 
ment, I gave him one, and several tracts." 



RET. HENRY MARTYR. 215 

November 14. — "Employed in writing' out the 
Parables. Walked through a poor village in the 
evening, where there were nothing but women and 
children, who all ran away when they saw me, 
except one poor old woman who was ill, and begged. 
Though she spoke clearly enough, I could scarcely 
understand one of her words; so that I have quite 
a new language to learn. When she received half 
a rupee, she was mute with astonishment for a time, 
and at last said Chula (good.) — The name of the 
place was Nuckanpcur." 

November 15. — "Morning spent on the Parables. 
Afterwards with Moonshee, correcting Acts iv. 
The boat stopping in the afternoon a short time, I 
went into a village; and finding a genteel looking 
Hindoo, smoking his hooker, I sat down with him; 
and a few people gathered round. But the old man, 
who had been a soldier, talked so incessantly about 
his campaigns, that I found no good would come if 
I did not interrupt him, and introduce religion. 
From having been much with the English, he had 
more enlarged views than most of the Hindoos, and 
talked like a Mussulman — that all were of one cast 
before God — that there would be a day of judg- 
ment — and that there was only one God. While I 
endeavored to make him comprehend the nature of 
the death of Christ, he said, 'ah, that is your Shas- 
ter' — so, never was any effort more ineffectual. In 
the bazar, I stood and asked if any one could read 
N&gree. There was only one who could, and he 



216 MEMOIR OF 

took a tract; about ten others were taken also. I 
suffered greatly from dejection most of the evening. 
But the Lord graciously came in the time of need, 
and supported my sinking faith. 'The Lord reign- 
cth,and the people shall remember and turn to the 
Lord.' »— 

Nov. 16. — Sunday. — "Generally in a solemn ten- 
der spirit. Spent the first half of the day in read- 
ing the Scripture and prayer. Many a word was 
brought home with abundance of consolation to my 
soul. 'Though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art 
with me — thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.* 
When do the sheep find the happiness of having a 
shepherd so much as when they are walking through 
a dark shadow. While Jesus lets me see his 'rod 
and staff,' I am comforted. — In the afternoon, read 
some French sermons. Walked in the evening to 
a poor village, where I only produced terror. One 
man whom I at last met, told me that none could 
read in the village, but a Brahmin; and he was 
gone to another town. I left two tracts for him, 
and told the man to be sure and give them to him 
when he came back. The man was in no small 
alarm at this, but asked only where I got them. — 
Distressed at times — I fear that I am not acting 
faithfullv in warning: those around me. But the 
shortest way to peace, is to pray for a broken heart, 
and submissive spirit: by this means, my mind 
brightened up. — At night, was deeply affected about 



REV. HENRY MARTYtf. 2J7 

my two dear sisters: and felt the bowels of affec- 
tion yearn over them: who knows what they have 
been suffering all this while. For my poor elder 
sister, I interceded that she might be saved." 

Nov. 17. — "Early this morning they set me ashore, 
to see a hot spring. A great number of Brahmins 
and Fakirs were there. Not being able to under- 
stand them, I gave away tracts. Many followed 
me to the budgerow, where I gave away more 
tracts, and some Testaments, Arrived at Monghir 
about noon. In the evening some came to me for 
books; and, among them, those who had travelled 
from the spring, having heard the report that I was 
giving away copies of the Ramayuna. They would 
not believe me when I told them that it w r as not 
the Ramayuna; I gave them six or eight more. In 
the morning, tried to translate with Moonshee one 
of the Nagree papers." 

Nov. 18.— " A man followed the budgerow along 
the walls of the fort; and, finding an opportunity, 
got on board with another, begging for a book — 
not believing but that it w ? as the Ramayuna. As I 
hesitated, having given as many as I could spare for 
one place, he prostrated himself to the earth, and 
placed his forehead in the dust; at which I felt an 
indescribable horror. I gave them each a Testa- 
ment. Employed in writing on the Parables, and 
translating. In the evening met with two villagers, 
and finding they could read, I brought them to the 
19 



218 MEMOIR OF 

boat, and gave them each a Testament and some 
tracts." 

Nov. 19. — "Employed in the translating of Para- 
bles, all the day. Finished the first book of the 
Ramayuna. Came-to at a desert place on the North 
side; where, in my walk I met with a man with 
whorn I conversed; but we could understand each 
other but very little. To a boy with him, who 
could read, I gave some tracts. Felt extraordinarily 
wearied with my labor these two or three last days; 
and should have been glad of some refreshing con- 
versation." 

Nov. 20 — 22.-"Employments — the same, through- 
out, these three days — finished the sixth of Acts. 
Stopped each night at sand-banks." 

Nov. 23. — Sunday. "Spent the day comfortably 
and solemnly, in reading and prayer. But my con- 
science was grievously wounded in the evening, at 
the recollection of having omitted opportunities of 
leaving the word of God at a place. Yet will I 
adore the blessed Spirit that he departs not, nor 
suffers my conscience to be benumbed. What a 
wretched life shall I lead, if I do not exert myself 
from morning till night in a place, where through 
whole territories, I seem to be the only light." 

Nov. 24. — '-Employed in writing on a Parable all 
day. In my evening walk, finding an old Brahmin 
at work in the fields, I began to ask him how he, 'a 
Brahmin, was obliged to work.' He concluded his 
answer, by saying, that we English had robbed 



REV. HENRY MARTYN V . 



219 



them of their country. He was, for a considerable 
time, very violent; but another Brahmin, in some 
fright, coming up, made all up as he thought by 
speaking of the brave English, &c. When I began 
to talk to them of the day of judgment, heaven, and 
hell, they seemed surprised and pleased, and gave 
great attention. But J have never had reason to 
believe, that the attention of the people to any thing 
I have to say, is more than respect for a 'Sahib.' 
They never ask a question about it, and probably 
do not understand one-half, when my sentences are 
correct. The disaffection of the people gave rise 
afterwards to many reflections in my mind on what 
may be my future sufferings in this country: but, in 
proportion to the apparent causes of depression, 
did my faith and triumph in the Lord seem to rise. 
Come what will — let me only be found in the path 
of duty, and nothing shall be wrong. Be my suf- 
ferings what they may, they cannot equal those of 
my Lord, nor probably even those of his Apostles 
and early Martyrs. They, 'through faith subdued 
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, out of weakness 
were made strong, 5 &c; and why shall I not hope 
that I, who am indeed like one born out of due time, 
shall receive strength too according to my day." 

Nov. 25. — "Reached Patna this afternoon — walk- 
ed about this future scene of my ministry with a 
spirit almost overwhelmed at the sight of the im- 
mense multitudes. There was a Rajah sitting at 
the door of his tent by the water side. Came to 



"220 MEMOIR OF 

the budgerow at night ill with a head-ache, and still 
more weak and feeble in faith. Pain in the head 
continued acute all night." 

Nov. 26. — "The multitudes on the water side 
prodigious. Arrived, in the afternoon, at Dinapore: 
but did not go ashore. Employed in translating 
and writing on Parables. My spirit this evening- 
was sweetly elevated beyond the people and the 
concerns of this world, — while meditating on the 
words 4 I am the Almighty God; walk before me, 
and be thou perfect.' " 

On reaching Dinapore, which for a considerable 
time was to be his permanent residence, Mr. Mar- 
tyn's immediate objects were three-fold: to establish 
native schools — to attain such readiness in speaking 
Hindoostanee, as might enable him to preach in that 
language the Gospel of the grace of God — and to 
prepare translations of the Scriptures and religious 
tracts for dispersion. We have already seen that 
the idea of translating the Parables, accompanied 
by some remarks upon them, had occupied his mind 
during his voyage on the Ganges. At Dinapore he 
continued to engage with the same earnestness, in 
this employment. Of Hindoostanee he already 
knew enough to translate with grammatical accu- 
racy; and his Moonshee was at hand to suggest the 
proper idiom; and what in that language is so diffi- 
cult — the just and exact collocation of the words in 
the sentences. The obstacles which he had to 
overcome respecting the languages of the country. 



REV. HEXHY MARTY.V. 2t21 

he represents as formidable. Passing out of Bengal 
into Bahar, he found that he had to acquaint himself 
with the Baharree, as well as the Hindoostanee; and 
the Baharree had its various dialects. "I am low 
spirited," he said soon after reaching Dinapore, 
"about my work; I seem to be at a stand, not 
knowing what course to take." From the Pundit 
whom he employed, he learned, though the state- 
ment was probably exaggerated, that every four kos 
(miles) the language changes; and by the specimens 
he gave of a sentence in the dialects across the 
water at Gyah, and some other places, they appear- 
ed to differ so much, that a book in the dialect of 
one district, would be unintelligible to the people of 
another. As the best mode of acquiring a knowl- 
edge of the various Oriental tongues, the study of 
Sanscrit was recommended to him by his Pundit — 
and with what spirit he labored in this and other 
pursuits, may be seen in his account of the work of a 
single day. 

"Morning with Pundit, in Sanscrit. In the 
afternoon, hearing a Parable in the Bahar dialect. 
Continued till late at night in writing on the 
Parables. My soul much impressed with the un- 
measurable importance of my work, and the wick- 
edness and cruelty of wasting a moment, when so 
many nations are, as it were, waiting till I do my 
work. Felt eager for the morning to come again, 
that I might resume my work." 
*I9 



222 MEMOIR OF 

The diiiiculties of various kinds which presented 
themselves to Mr. Martyn, could not fail of being 
a source of pain to him, in proportion to his fervent 
anxiety to benefit all around him. But it was his 
privilege and consolation to remember that he w T as 
in his hands, in whom are "hid all the treasures 
of wisdom and knowledge: and with whom all 
things are possible.*' Had he not sought and 
found a refuge in the omnipotence of Christ, soon 
would he have sunk in despondency. To those 
who have not elevated their views above the feeble 
efforts of human agency, the conversion of the 
Heathen cannot but appear to exceed the limits of 
possibility. Mr. Martyn, w r ho in England had met 
with many such disputers of this world, found that 
India was by no means destitute of them. — A con- 
versation into which he was led with one of these 
characters, was painfully trying to him, — "but in the 
multitude of my troubled thoughts," he said, "I still 
saw there is 'strong consolation in the hope set be- 
fore us.' Let me labor for fifty years, amidst scorn, 
and without seeing one soul converted, still it shall 
not be worse for my soul in eternity, nor even worse 
for it in time — 'though the heathen rage,' and the 
English people 'imagine a vain thing,' the Lord 
Jesus, who controls all events, is my Friend — my 
Master — my God — my All. On this rock of ages, 
on which I feel my foot to rest, my head is lifted up 
above all mine enemies round about me, and I sing> 
yea, I will sing praises unto tUe Lord" 



REV. HENRY MARTYX. 223 

From much of the society Mr. Martyn found 
at Dinapore, he received more discomfort than 
disappointment — some there were indeed, who 
treated him from the first with the utmost kind- 
ness — who afterwards became his joy, and who 
one day will assuredly be his crown of rejoicing. 
But before that happy change in them was effected 
by the power of divine grace, he found none to 
whom he could fully and freely unbosom him- 
self. With what gladness and thankfulness, there- 
fore, did he welcome the arrival of letters from his 
beloved Christian friends at Calcutta and in England. 
He speaks of being exceedingly comforted at re- 
turning home after a melancholy walk, and finding 
letters from Mr. Brown and Corrie, and on hearing 
from two of his friends in England, who were as dear 
to him as he was to them: "How sweet," he said, 
after perusing these memorials of affection, "are the 
delights of Christian friendship; and what must 
heaven be, where there are none but humble, kind, 
and holy children of God: such a society would of 
itself be a heaven to me, after Avhat I feel at the 
ways of worldly people here." Nor was it only 
from the neglect, levity, and profaneness of many of 
his countrymen, where he was stationed, that Mr. 
Martyn was pained and grieved: his meek and ten- 
der spirit was hurt likewise at the manner in which 
he conceived himself to be regarded by the natives: 
by the anger and contempt with which multitudes 
of them eyed bim in his palanquin at Patna, he was 



224 MEMOIR OF 

particularly affected, observing '"'Here every native 
I meet is an enemy to me, because I am an English- 
man. England appears almost a heaven upon earth, 
because there one is not viewed as an unjust in- 
truder. But O the heaven of my God — the 'general 
assembly of the first born, the spirits of just men 
made perfect,' and Jesus! O let me for a little mo- 
ment labor and suffer reproach!" 

The observations he was compelled to hear from 
his Moonshee and Pundit, often present a curious and 
affecting display of Pagan and Mahometan ignorance. 
"Upon shewing," he writes, "the Moonshee the first 
part of John iii, he instantly caught at those words 
of our Lord, in which he first describes himself as 
having come down from heaven, and then calls him- 
self the Son of Man which is in heaven. He said 
this was what the philosophers called 'nickal,' or 
impossible — even for God to make a thing to be in 
two different places at the same time. I explained 
to him, as soon as his heat was a little subsided, that 
the difficulty was not so much in conceiving how the 
Son of Man could be, at the same time, in two dif- 
ferent places, as in comprehending that union of the 
two natures in him, which made this possible. I told 
him, that I could not explain this union; but shewed 
him the design and wisdom of God in effecting our 
redemption by this method. I was much at a loss 
for words, but I believe he collected my meaning, 
and received some information which he possessed 
not before," In another place he says, "in reading 



REV. HENRY MARTYTy. 225 

some parts of the Epistles of St. John to my Moon- 
shee, he seemed to view them with great contempt: 
so far above the wisdom of the world is their divine 
simplicity! The Moonshee told me. at night, that 
when the Pundit came to the part about the angels 
•separating the evil from the good;' he said, with 
some surprise, that there was no such thing in his 
Shaster; but that, at the end of the world, the sun 
would come so near as, first, to burn all the men, 
then the mountains, then the debtas (inferior gods,) 
then the waters: then God reducing himself to the 
size of a thumb nail, would swim on the leaf of the 
peepul tree." 

The commencement of Mr. Martyn's ministry, 
amongst the Europeans at Dinapore, was not of 
such a. kind as either to gratify or encourage him. 
At first he read prayers to the soldiers at the bar- 
racks on the long-drum, and as there was no place 
for them to sit, was desired to omit his sermon. 

Preparations being afterwards made for the per- 
formance of divine service, with somewhat of that 
order and decency which becomes its celebration, 
the resident families at Dinapore assembled on the 
Sabbath, and attended Mr. Martyn's ministry. By 
many of these, oiFence was taken at his not reading 
to them a written sermon, and it was by letter inti- 
mated to him, that it was their wish that he should 
desist from extempore preaching. At such an inter- 
ference on the part of his flock, he confess-s that 
he was at first roused into anger and displeasure — 



226 IVTEMOIR GF 

he could not but think that the people committed 
to his charge, had forgotten the relation which sub- 
sisted between him and them, in dictating to him 
the mode in which they thought proper to be ad- 
dressed: on mature reflection, however, he resolved 
upon compliance, for the sake of conciliation: — say- 
ing, "that he would give them a folio sermon book* 
if they would receive the word of God on that ac- 
count." 

Whilst the flock at Dinapore were thus overstep- 
ping the limits of respect and propriety, Mr. Mar- 
tyn was informed, that one of his brethren at Cal- 
cutta, was about to transgress the rules of Chris- 
tian charity very grievously, in publishing one of 
those pulpit invectives which had been fulminated 
against him on his arrival at Calcutta. Such an act 
in a brother chaplain would, in some minds, have 
excited vindictive feelings. In his, the chief excite- 
ment was a discomposure, arising from an appre- 
hension, that he might be compelled to undertake a 
public refutation of this attack on his doctrines — an 
undertaking which would consume much of that 
precious time which he wished wholly to devote to 
his Missionary work. 

Thus terminated the year 1806 — on the last day 
of which, Mr. Martyn appears to have been much 
engaged in prayer and profitable meditation on the 
lapse of t'me: feeling communion with the saints of 
God in the world, whose minds were turned to the 
consideration of those awful things, which cannct 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 227 

but be suggested to a reflecting mind by a year irre- 
coverably past. 

On the first day of the year 1807, Mr. Martyn 
was led to the following reflection, from whence we 
perceive, that it is the work of the self-, ame spirit 
to convince the soul of sin, to constrain it to unre- 
served obedience, and to fill it with unutterable con- 
solation. 

"Seven years have passed away since I was first 
called of God. Before the conclusion of another 
seven years, how probable that these hands will 
have mouldered into dust! But be it so: my soul 
through grace hath received the assurance of eter- 
nal life, and I see the days of my pilgrimage short- 
ening, without a wish to add to their number. But 
O may I be stirred up to a farther discharge of my 
high and awful work, and laying aside, as much as 
may be, all carnal cares and studies, may I give my- 
self to this 'one thing.' The last has been a year 
to be remembered by me, because the Lord has 
brought me safely to India, and permitted me to be- 
gin, in one sense, my Missionary work. My trials 
in it have been very few; every thing has turned 
out better than I expected; loving kindnesses and 
tender mercies have attended me every step: there- 
fore, here, will I sing his praise. I have been an 
unprofitable servant, but the Lord hath not cut me 
off: I have been wayward and perverse, yet he 
hath brought me further on the way to Zion: here 
then, with sevenfold gratitude and affection, would 



228 iuemoir of 

I stop, and devote myself to the blissful service of 
my adorable Lord. May he continue his patience, 
his grace, his directions, his spiritual influences, and 
I shall at last surely come off conqueror! May he 
speedily open my mouth, to make known the mys- 
teries of the Gospel, and in great mercy grant, that 
the Heathen may receive it in great mercy and 
live!" 

The commencement of the new year was devot- 
ed, by Mr. Martyn, to the work which was still be- 
fore him, translating and commenting on the Para- 
bles, as well as to the attainment of the Sanscrit. 
Sustained by the hope of future usefulness, he ex- 
perienced much pleasure, not only in urging his 
toilsome way through the rudiments of that lan- 
guage, but even when he appeared, notwithstanding 
every exertion, to be making no sensible progress in 
it. "Employed," he says, one day, in the month of 
January, 1807, — "Morning and evening in Sanscrit 
Grammar, and in the afternoon, in translating the 
Parables. Though I scarcely stirred in Sanscrit, 
yet by keeping myself steady to the work, I had 
much comfort in my soul, and this day, like all 
oli ers, fled swiftly away." 

To these employments he added another also, 
the translation into Hindoostanee of those parts of 
the Book of Common Prayer which are most fre- 
quently used. This project, when it first occurred 
to him, so arrested his mind, that he instantly began 
to translate, and proceeded as far as the end of the 



REV. KENRY MARTYN. 229 

Te Deurn: fearing, however, as it was the Sabbath, 
that such an employment might not be in perfect 
harmony with the sacred solemnity of that day, in- 
asmuch as it was not strictly of a devotional kind, 
he desisted from making further progress — so deep 
was his reverence for a divine appointment — so 
jealous his fear of offending his God! After passing, 
therefore, the remainder of the day in reading the 
holy Scriptures, and singing praises to the Lord, he 
closed it with these reflections:- — "O how shall I 
sufficiently praise my God, that here in this solitude, 
with people enough indeed, but without a saint, I 
yet feel fellowship with all those, who, in every- 
place, call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 
I see myself travelling on with them, and I hope I 
shall worship with them in his courts above!" 

These peculiar studies, as well as the conversa- 
tion which Mr. Martyn held frequently with the 
natives, (for which purpose he went about without 
his palanquin,) were regarded by many with a 
mixture of jealousy, fear, and contempt. Did he 
so much as speak to a native, it was enough to ex- 
cite wonder and alarm: nor is this a matter of sur- 
prise, when we consider, that all love for the soul, 
and all fear of God, are as certainly absent and 
inoperative in worldly characters, as the love of 
pleasure and fear of man are present and predomi- 
nant And if, in ordinary circumstances, such a line 
of conduct as Mr. Martyn adopted in India, was 
calculated to awaken the apprehensions of those 
20 



230 MEMOIR OF 

who lived chiefly for this world; — at this particular 
juncture it was more likely to be attended with 
these effects. For just at this time, the settlement 
was brought into some consternation by hearing of 
the sudden arrival of twelve thousand Mahrattas in 
the neighborhood: — of which event, the alarmists 
at Dinapore might be ready to take advantage, and 
endeavor, in some way or other, to connect it with 
Mr. Martyn's plans respecting the conversion of the 
natives to Christianity. These troops, however, had 
other objects than what the wakeful fear of some 
persons might have assigned them; their destina- 
tion being simply to attend one of their chiefs on a 
pilgrimage to Benares. 

Religious discussions between Mr. Martyn, his 
Moonshee, and Pundit, were almost of daily occur- 
rence, and as they serve to throw light on his char- 
acter, as well as on that of those with whom a 
Missionary must be conversant in India, it may be 
useful to refer again to what his Journals contain on 
this r head. 

"Long disputes with the Moonshee on the enjoy- 
ments of heaven: I felt some mortification at not 
having a command of language. There are a va- 
riety of lesser arguments, the force of which consists 
in their being brought together in rapid succession 
in conversation; which nothing but a command of 
Words can enable one to effect. However, I was 
enabled to tell the Moonshee one thing, that my 
chief enjoyment, even now on earth, was the enjoy- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 231 

ment of God's presence, and a growing conformity 
to him; and therefore, I asked, what motives could 
the promise of Houris, Ghilmas, green meadows, 
and eating and drinking in paradise, afford me. My 
soul sweetly blessed the Lord in secret, that this 
testimony was true, and O what a change must have 
been wrought in me!" 

Jan. 16. — "Employed at the Sanscrit — in the af- 
ternoon, collecting idiomatic phrases for the Para- 
bles. Finished the first Epistle of St. John with the 
Moonshee. I asked him what he thought of those 
passages which so strongly express the truth of the 
Trinity, and of the Divinity of Christ; he said he 
never would believe it, because the Koran had de- 
clared it sinful to say that God had any son. I told 
him that he ought to pray, that God would teach 
him what the truth really is. He said he had no 
occasion to pray on this subject, as the word of God 
was express. I asked him whether some doubt 
ought not to arise in his mind, whether the Koran 
was the word of God. He grew angry; and I felt 
hurt and vexed. I should have done better to have 
left the words of the chapter with him, without 
saying any thing. I went also too far with the Pundit, 
in arguing against his superstitions; for he also grew 
angry. If any qualification seems necessary to a Mis- 
sionary in India, it is wisdom operating in the regula- 
tion of the temper, and improvement of opportunities" 

"Dictating to day the explanation of a parable to 
the Moonshee, I had occasion to give the proofs of 



-232 MEMOIR OF 

the corruption of human nature, and drew the con- 
clusion that, hence, till our hearts are changed, we 
are abominable in the sight of God, and our own 
works, however useful to men, are worthless in his 
sight. I think I never saw such a striking instance 
of the truth grappling with human nature: he seem- 
ed like a fish when he first finds the hook has hold 
of him: he was in a dreadful rage, and endeavored 
to escape from the conviction those truths pro- 
duced, but seemingly in vain. At last, recovering 
himself, he said, he had a question to ask — which 
was — what would become of children, if the dispo- 
sition they were born with, rendered them odious 
in the sight of God? I gave him the best answer I 
could, but he considered it as nothing, because 
founded on Scripture; and said, with great contempt, 
that this was mere matter of faith, the same sort of 
thing as when the Hindoos believed the nonsense of 
their Shasters." 

How delightful must it have been to Mr. Martyn 
to turn, as he did at this time, from controversies 
with these unbelievers, to the enjoyment of Chris- 
tian converse and communion with his beloved 
friend and brother Mr. Corrie, who, towards the 
end of January, visited him, on his way to his sta- 
tion at Chunar. Many a happy hour did these ser- 
vants of Jesus Christ then pass in fellowship one 
with another, for truly their fellowship was with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ: — with 
one accord they often fell at the feet of their Re- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 233 

deeraer in supplication and thanksgiving — they read 
his holy word — they rejoiced together in its prom*- 
ises — they spake to one another of the glory of 
Christ's kingdom, and talked of his power, and they 
parted sorrowfully indeed, yet earnestly desiring, 
each to be employed in his proper work. "Our com- 
munion," said Mr. Marty n, respecting this interview, 
"has been refreshing, at least to me, and the Lord 
has sanctified our meeting by his presence and gra- 
cious influences." 

With respect to the Europeans, amongst whom 
Mr. Martyn ministered, he had much reason to be 
gratified by the reception he met with from those 
whom he attended in the hospital: but he had 
equal cause to be dissatisfied and grieved with the 
behavior which he witnessed too generally, in the 
houses of the wealthy: — can we be surprised, there- 
fore, that he should prefer, as he did, the house of 
mourning, to that of feasting? In vain did he en- 
deavor, amongst the upper ranks, to introduce reli- 
gious topics into conversation. "I spoke," said he, 
after visiting some of these, "several times about 
religion to them, but the manner in which it was 
received, damped all farther attempt. 4 Who hath 
believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the 
Lord revealed?' How awful does the thought some- 
times appear to me, that almost the whole world 
are united against God and his Christ. O thou in- 
jured Sovereign! O Lord, how long will it bo ere 
thou plead thine own cause, and make bare thine 
*20 



234 MEMOIR OF 



arm in the sight of the nations? Let me in patience 



o 



possess my soul; and though iniquity abound, may I 
never wax cold, but be brought safely through all 
this darkness and danger to a happier world! To 
thousands my word will, perhaps, prove 'a savor of 
death unto death.' Let me nevertheless go on 
steadily in the path which the Lord has marked out: 
perhaps some poor soul may be converted by what 
he shall hear from me; or, if not, I shall have done 
my work." In such society, as might be expected, 
he found his desires and endeavors for the conver- 
sion of the Heathen invariably discountenanced 
and opposed: having, on one occasion, referred to 
the Company's Charter, as not only permitting, but 
enjoining the communication of religious instruction 
to the natives, coldness and distance, on the part of 
those he was visiting, were the immediate conse- 
quence of his observations. But "his soul could 
rejoice in God, that if men were unkind, it was for 
Christ's sake, and he felt determined to go on with 
vigor, though the whole world of wretched men 
should oppose." 

With respect to the conversion of the natives to 
the nominal profession of Christianity, in Mr. Mar- 
tyn's opinion, the difficulty was by no means great. 
He was surprised at the laxity of principle which 
seemed to prevail among the natives, and could per- 
ceive that the idea of embracing the religion of the 
English, was very pleasant to the Pundit, and other 
natives. But he did not fail to explain to them. 



REV. HENRY MARTYJV. 235 

"that it was no object of his to make them 'Ferin- 
gees,' in the sense in which they understood it, and 
assured them, that if all the Brahmins and Rajahs of 
the country would come to him for baptism, he 
would not baptize them, except he believed that 
they repented, and would renounce the world." 

With the condition of the natives, in a moral point 
of view, Mr. Martyn had but too much reason to be 
shocked and affected: and he was sometimes called 
upon to interfere, and that with some personal haz- 
ard, to prevent acts of the greatest turpitude and 
injustice among them. "My Surdar," he says, "was 
imprisoned by an unjust Cotwal. I sent word to him 
to give nothing for his release, and not to fear: the 
Cotwal was afraid and let the man go, and ceased 
his claim upon his relations. This has been a long 
and iniquitous business. I felt quite thankful that 
the Lord had thus shewn himself the Father of the 
fatherless. I could hardly believe such barefaced 
oppression. How much has the Gospel done in 
producing sentiments of justice and equity in all 
ranks of people in Christendom! The poor people 
here seem unable to comprehend it." "* * *," he 
adds; "developed a system of villainy carried on in 
the country, by the supineness of # # # , which aston- 
ished and grieved me beyond measure. I determin- 
ed to go to * * * myself, and tell him what I had 
heard: but thought it prudent to defer it till after 
my distant journey to Buxar, in which the Cotwal, 
who is the head of a gang of robbers, with which 



236 MEMOIR OP 

the whole country is swarming, might easily procure 
my assassination, if by getting him turned out, I 
should provoke him. I thought it, however, a duty 
I owe to God, to him, to the poor oppressed natives, 
and to my country, to exert myself in this business; 
and I felt authorized to risk my life." 

This journey to Buxar, during which Mr. Mar- 
tyn feared that, without prudence, he might pos- 
sibly become a victim to the sudden revenge of 
one, whose daily oppressions caused many to weep 
without a comforter, was taken on the 16th of 
February: and it may surprise those, who are not 
aware of the very slender proportion of chaplains 
allotted to our empire in India, to be informed, that 
he travelled seventy miles for the purpose of per- 
forming part of his pastoral duty in the celebration 
of a marriage. But before we attend him on this 
journey, let us notice his abstraction from the world, 
his sacred peace, his holy aspirations, his deep con- 
trition, at this period: — "I felt more entirely with- 
drawn from the world, than for a long time past: 
what a dark atheistical state do I generally live in! 
Alas! that this creation should so engross my mind, 
and the Author of it be so slightly and coldly re- 
garded. — I found myself, at this time, truly a stran- 
ger and a pilgrim in the world; and I did suppose 
that not a wish remained for any thing here. The 
experience of my heart was delightful. I enjoyed 
a 'peace that passeth all understanding;' no desire 
remained, but that this peace be confirmed and in- 



REV. HENRY MARTY& 237 

creased. O why should any thing draw away my 
attention, whilst Thou art ever near and ever 
accessible through the Son of thy love? O why do 
I not always walk with God, forgetful of a vain and 
perishable world? — Amazing patience! He bears 
with this faithless foolish heart, and suffers me to 
come laden with sins, to receive new pardon, new 
grace, every day. Why does not such love make 
me hate those sins which grieve him, and hide him 
from my sight? I sometimes make vain resolutions 
in my own strength, that I will think of God. Rea- 
son, and Scripture, and experience teach me that 
such a life is happiness, and holiness; that by 'be- 
holding his glory,' I should be 'changed into his im- 
age from glory to glory,' and be freed from those 
anxieties that make me unhappy: and that every 
motive to duty being strong, obedience would be 
easy." 

Of his journey to Buxar, Mr. Martyn has left the 
following account. February 16. — "Rose very early, 
and accumulated work for my Moonshee in my ab- 
sence. Made my will, and left it with * # *. At 
half-past three set off in a palanquin, and in four 
hours reached the Soane. From thence travelled 
all night, and at nine next morning reached Buxar. 
Being unable to sleep, I arrived so sick and unwell, 
as to be convinced of the unprofitableness of trav- 
elling by night in this country. By reading some 
of the Epistle to the Ephesians before it grew 
dark, and meditating upon it afterward, my time 



238 MEMOIR OP 

passed agreeably; and I thought with delight of 
the time when I should be able to adopt the Apos- 
tle's words with respect to the Heathen around me. 
After breakfast I lay down, and endeavored in vain 
to get sleep. I was much assisted in conversation 
with the family after dinner, when we conversed 
much on religious subjects, and I had as good an op- 
portunity, as I could have wished, for explaiuing 
the nature of the Gospel, and offering considera- 
tions for embracing it. I retired to rest with my 
heart full of joy, at being thus assisted to pass the 
time profitably." 

Feb. 18. — "My birth-day — twenty-six. — With all 
the numerous occasions for deep humiliation, I have 
cause for praise, at recollecting the promising open- 
ings, and important changes, which have occurred 
since my last birth-day. The Lord, in love, made 
me wax stronger and stronger! Walked after break- 
fast to a pagoda, within the fort of Buxar, where a 
Brahmin read and expounded. It was a scene, I 
suppose, descriptive of the ancient times of Hindoo 
glory. The Brahmin sat under the shade of a large 
banyan near the pagoda: his hair and beard were 
white, and his head most gracefully crowned with a 
garland of flowers. A servant of the Rajah sat on 
his right-hand, at right angles; and the venerable 
man then sung the Sanscrit verses of the Huribuns, 
and explained them to him, without turning his head, 
but only his eyes, which had a very dignified effect. 
I waited for the first pause to ask some questions, 



REV. HENRY MARTYN* 239 

which led to a long conversation. And this ended by 
my attempting to give them a history of Redemp- 
tion. The Rajah's servant was a very modest, pen- 
sive man, but did not seem to understand what I said 
so well as the old Brahmin, who expressed his sur- 
prise and pleasure, as well as the other, at finding a 
Sahib cared any thing about religion. I afterward 
sent a copy of the Nagree Gospels to the servant, 
desiring that it might be given to the Rajah, if he 
would accept it. In the evening I married and ad- 
ministered the sacrament to * * # and * * % at their 
own desire." 

Feb. 19. — "Rose at four and left Buxar, and at 
nine in the evening reached Dinapore in safety — 
blessed be God — may my life thus preserved, by 
unceasing Providence, be his willing sacrifice." 

The scene Mr. Martyn witnessed in the pagoda at 
Buxar, was succeeded, soon after his return to Dina- 
pore, by another, he describes, still more interesting. 
"A poor Jew from Babylon came to me begging: 
he was tall, but stooping from weakness, and his 
countenance strongly marked with grief. When at 
his first arrival, I asked him if he was a Mussulman, 
he said in a low and pensive tone of voice — No! an 
Isralee. Alas! poor people, still full of the fury of 
the Lord, the rebuke of thy God! I felt all the ten- 
derness of a kinsman'towards him, and found myself, 
as it were, at home with an Asiatic, who acknowl- 
edged the God of Abraham. The passage in chap- 
ter ix, of Isaiah 5, 6, he rendered as meaning the 
Almighty God," 



240 MEMOIR OP 

The state of the schools, five of which, at his 
own expense solely, Mr. Martjn had instituted in 
and about Dinapore, began now to occasion hitn 
some anxiety. An alarm was spread that it was his 
intention to seize upon all the children, and, in some 
compulsory manner, make them Christians. The 
school at Patna, in consequence, suddenly sunk in 
number, from forty children to eight: and at Dina- 
pore, a spot of ground, which had been fixed upon 
for the erection of a school-room, could not be ob- 
tained from the Zemindar. In this perplexity, Mr. 
Martyn lost no time in ascertaining what a soothing, 
and at the same time sincere, explanation of his 
sentiments might effect, and for this purpose he 
went to Patna. There, in addition to his present 
perplexities, he had the severe pain of beholding a 
servant of the Company, a man advanced in years, 
and occupying a siluation of great respectability, 
living in a state of daring apostacy from the Chris- 
tian faith, and openly professing his preference for 
Mahometanism. He had even built a mosque of 
his own, which at this season, being the M>hurrun, 
was adorned with flags; and being illuminated at 
night, proclaimed the shame of the offender. It 
will readily be supposed, that Mr. Martyn did not 
fail to sound a warning voice in the ears of this mis- 
erable apostate: — he charged him to — "Remember 
whence he was fallen," — and exhorted him to con- 
sider, that — "the Son of God had died for sinners." 



REV, HENRY MARTY .Y. 241 

At the school in Patna, neither children nor teach- 
er were to be found — all, as if struck by a panic, 
had absented themselves, The people, however, 
quickly gathered in crowds, and to them Mr. Mar- 
tyn declared, that his intentions had been misunder- 
stood, when such was the effect of temperate rea- 
sonings, and mild expostulations, that all apprehen- 
sions were removed as quickly almost as they had 
been excited — and in a few days, the children came 
as usual to the schools at Patna and Dinapore. 

By February 24, a work was completed by Mr. 
Martyn, which, had he effected nothing else, Avould 
have proved that he had not lived in vain, the 
translation of the Book of Common Prayer into 
Hindoostanee; and on Sunday, March 15, he com- 
menced the performance of divine worship in the 
vernacular language of India, concluding with an ex- 
hortation from the Scripture in the same tongue. 
The spectacle was as novel as it was gratifying, to 
behold two hundred women, Portuguese, Roman 
Catholics and Mahometans, crowding to attend the 
service of the Church of England, which had lost 
nothing, doubtless, of its beautiful simplicity, and 
devout solemnity, in being clothed with an oriental 
dress. 

Toward the latter end of the month of March, 
another useful work also was brought to a conclu- 
sion, that of a Commentary on the Parables. — 
;< The little book of the Parables,"— Mr. Martyn 

wrote to Mr. Come, at this time,- "is finished. 
21 



242 MEMOIR OF 

through the blessing of God: I cannot say I am 
very well pleased, on the re-perusal of it; but yet^ 
containing as it does such large portions of the word 
of God, I ought not to doubt its accomplishing that 
which he pleaseth." 

Talking to the Moonshee, he says, in his Journal, 
of the probable effects of that work, "he cut me to 
the very heart, by his contemptuous reflections on 
the Gospel — saying that, after the present genera- 
tion was passed away, a race of fools might perhaps 
arise, who would try to believe, that God could be 
man, and man God, and who would say that this is 
the word of God? One advantage I may derive 
from his bitterness and disrespect, is, that I shall be 
surprised at no appearances of the same temper in 
others in future. May my Lord enable me to main- 
tain an invincible spirit of love! — How sweet that 
glorious day, when Jesus Christ shall reign! Death 
at several times of this day appeared infinitely sweet 
in this view of it — that I shall then go to behold 
the glory of Christ." 

Mr. Martyn's duties on the Sabbath had now in- 
creased, — consisting of one service at seven in the 
morning to the Europeans, another at two in the 
afternoon to the Hindoos, and an attendance at the 
hospital; after which, in the evening, he ministered 
privately at his own rooms, to those soldiers who 
were most seriously impressed with a sense of di- 
vine things. From the following statement we may 
se£ and appreciate his exertions. — "The English 



REV. HENRY MARTYR, .243 

service, at seven in the morning. I preached on 
Luke xxii, 22. As is always the case when I preach 
about Christ, a spiritual influence was diffused over 
my soul. The rest of the morning, till dinner time, 
I spent not unprofitably in reading Scripture, David 
Brainerd, and prayer. That dear saint of God, 
David Brainerd, is truly a man after my own heart. 
Although I cannot go half way with him in spiritu- 
ality and devotion, I cordially unite with him in such 
of his holy breathings, as I have attained unto. How 
sweet and wise, like him, and the saints of old, to 
pass through this world as a serious and considerate 
stranger. I have had more of this temper to-day, 
than of late, and every duty has been in harmony 
with my spirit. The service in Hindoostanee was 
at two o'clock. The number of the women not 
above one hundred. I expounded chap, iii, of St. 
Matthew. Notwithstanding the general apathy 
with which they seemed to receive every thing, 
there were two or three, who, I was sure, under- 
stood and felt something. But not a single creature 
beside them, European or native, was present. Yet 
true spirituality, with all its want of attractions for 
the carnal heart, did prevail over the splendid shows 
of Greece and Rome, and shall again here. — A man at 
the hospital much refreshed me, by observing, that if I 
made an acquisition of but one convert in my whole 
life, it would be a rich reward; and that I was 
taking the only possible way to this end. This man's 
remark was much more sensible than * * *'s yester- 



244 BIEMOIR OF 

day, who, it seems, had received full information of 
my schools, &c* and said I should make no proselyte. 
4 Thy judgments are far above out of their sight.' 
How positively they speak, as if there were no God 
who could influence the heart. At night B. and 
S. came, and we had the usual service." 

With those soldiers who attended Mr. Martyn 
always on the evening of the Sabbath, and often on 
some other evenings of the week, he enjoyed true 
spiritual communion. Their number was very small 
at first, amounting at the most to five; sometimes, 
indeed, only one could attend, but with him he would 
gladly unite in prayer and praise, and reading the 
Scriptures, when the promise of the Redeemer's 
gracious presence was verified to their abundant con- 
solation. 

Over some few of the officers stationed at Dina- 
pore, he now began to rejoice with that joy, which 
faithful ministers alone can estimate, who, after 
much earnest preaching and admonition, and after 
many prayers and tears — at length perceive a fruit- 
ful result of their anxious endeavors to win souls and 
glorifv their Lord. One of these, who from the 
first, to use Mr. Martyn's own words, had "treated 
him with the kindness of a father," at this time 
excited expectations which soon ripened into a de- 
lightful certainty, that he had turned with full pur- 
pose of heart to his Redeemer. But if his happiness 
was great at witnessing this effect of the divine bless- 
ing on his ministry — so also was his anxiety, lest this 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 245 

new convert should relapse, and walk again accord- 
ing to the course of this world, and he began, he said, 
in reference to him, for the first time, to enter into 
the spirit of the Apostle's words, "now we live if ye 
stand fast in the Lord." 

To those ministerial duties in which he was now 
engaged, Mr. Martyn considered, that in prudence 
he ought, for the present, to confine himself — had 
he given way at once to the strong and full-flowing 
tide of his zeal and love, it would immediately have 
carried him, with the Bible in his hand, into the 
streets of Patna; though to have commenced his 
ministry in that idolatrous city, as he confesses to Mr* 
Corrie, (to whom he wrote in these ardent and ener- 
getic terms,) would have cost him much: — "O that 
the time were come that I should be able to carry 
the war into the enemy's territory. It will be a 
severe trial to the flesh, my dear brother, for us 
both. — But it is sufficient for the disciple to be as his 
master, and the servant as his Lord. We shall be 
'accounted as the filth of the world, and the ofFscour- 
ing of all things.' But glory be to God, if we shall 
be accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name 
of the Lord Jesus. The cause we undertake, is, if 
possible, more odious and contemptible in the eyes of 
the people of this country, than it was in the primitive 
times: and that, because of the misconduct of the 
Roman Catholic Missionaries, in administering bap- 
tism to people without repentance. It is no more 
than natural that Christian should be a name of exe- 
*21 



246 MEMOIR OF 






cration to those who knew no more of Christianity, 
than what they have hitherto observed in this 
countrv." 

To that unrestrained intercourse by letter, which 
Mr. Martyn held weekly with Mr. Corrie, he was 
indebted for much of the purest felicity of his life. 
Such a friend stationed near him in such a country, 
he ranked amongst the richest blessings showered 
down upon him from on high. For if we except 
his other brethren in India, with whom he statedly 
corresponded every quarter, and often also at other 
times, and never but with great delight — he had no 
one like-minded, who would naturally care for the 
souls of the Heathen- — Mr. Corrie was of one heart 
w T ith himself. 

An interruption of this correspondence, which 
now took place, painful as it was in itself to Mr* 
Martyn, was more so with respect to its cause. 
The military station at Chunar is considered more 
adverse to the constitution of an European, than 
almost any other in India, and the heat, which in 
the month of March raised the thermometer at 
Dinapore to 92° in the shade, at Chunar was 
still more oppressively intense. Mr. Corrie's health 
in consequence began to be seriously affected, and 
many apprehensions for his most valuable life, forced 
themselves upon the mind of Mr. Martyn. 

The following extract of a letter, w T ritten upon 
this occasion, shews Mr. Martyn's anxiety for his 
friend, and evinces also how fully he was alive to 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. ' 247 

the necessity of subjecting the impetuosity of zeal 
to the discriminating correction of wisdom. "If 
there is nothing on the rock of Chunar, which oc- 
casions your frequent illness, I am sure I am not 
one to advise you to leave the flock. But if there is, 
as I have much reason to believe, then the mere 
loss of your services to the few people there, is, I 
think, not a sufficient reason for hazarding your life, 
in which the interest of millions of others are im- 
mediately involved. Consider, you bring a fixed 
habit of body with you, and must humor it, as much 
as possible, at first. When, after the experience of 
a year or two, you know what you can bear, go, if 
you please, to the extent of your powers. It is not 
agreeable to the pride and self-righteous parts of 
our natures, to be conferring with flesh and bloodr 
nature, under a religious form would rather squan- 
der away life and strength, as David Brainerd did. 
You know how I regard him as one, the latchet of 
whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose;' and yet 
considering the palpable impropriety of his attempt- 
ing to do what he did, when he ought to have been 
in medical hands, and not being able to ascribe it to 
folly in such a sensible man, I feel disposed, perhaps 
from motives of censoriousness, to ascribe it to the 
desire of gaining his own good opinion." — Then 
proceeding to the subject which lay so near both 
their hearts — the conversion of the Heathen — he 
thus concludes: "I long to hear ot a Christian school 
established at Benares: it will be like the ark 



248 MEMOIR OP 

brought into the house of Dagon, But do not be in 
a hurry: let your character become known, and you 
may do any thing. If nothing else comes of our 
schools, one thing I feel assured of, that the chil- 
dren will grow up ashamed of the idolatry and other 
customs of their country. But surely the general 
conversion of the natives is not far off: — the poverty 
of the Brahmins makes them less anxious for the 
continuance of the present system, from which they 
gain but little. But the translation of the Scrip- 
tures is the grand epoch. I trust we shall have the 
heavenly pleasure of dispersing the Scriptures 
together through the interior. Oh, the happiness 
and honor of being the children of God, the minis- 
ters of Christ!" 

Mr. Martyn's own health, as well as that of his 
friend, was reduced at this time to a weak and lan- 
guid state. To the debilitating effects of the heat- 
ed atmosphere, this was, in part perhaps, to be 
attributed; but it was certainly increased, if not in- 
duced, by his too severe abstinence. Most strictly 
did he ever observe the holy seasons set apart by the 
Church for fasting and prayer: — but the illness un- 
der w 7 hich he now labored was so evidently aggra- 
vated, if not occasioned, by abstinence, that he be- 
came convinced, that the exercise of fasting was so 
injurious to his health, as to be improper in the de- 
gree and frequency in which he had been accus- 
tomed to perform it. 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 249 

In this sickness, however, though an extreme lan- 
guor accompanied it, he was not only patient but 
active. On the Sabbath he would by no means de- 
sist from his work; — "I was assisted," he says, "to 
go through the usual ministrations without pain. In 
the morning I preached on Psalm xvi, 8 — 10, and 
administered the Lord's Supper with rather more 
solemnity and feeling than I usually have. The 
rest of the morning I could do little but lie down. 
In the afternoon I found, I suppose, two hundred 
women, and I expounded again at considerable 
length. Read Pilgrim's Progress at the hospital. 
In exposition with the soldiers I found great en- 
largement." 

As a proof of that wretchedness and ignorance 
in the natives, which so excited Mr. Martyn's com- 
passion for them, we may adduce two instances 
with which he himself has furnished us, in a Brah- 
min and a Ranee (a native princess;) though per- 
haps the Brahmin may be considered as only avow- 
ing sentiments too common amongst many who are 
called Christians, and have the Book of God in their 
hands. "A Brahmin," he says, "visiting my Pundit, 
copied out the Parable in which the Ten Command- 
ments were written, with a determination to put them 
all accurately into practice, in order to he united with 
God, — He had, however, an observation to make, 
and a question to ask. 'There was nothing,' he said, 
'commanded to be done, only things to be abstained 
from; and if he should be taken ill in the bazar ? 



250 MEMOIR OF 

or while laughing, and die; and through fear of 
transgressing the third commandment, should not 
mention the name of God, should he go to heav- 
en? — The Ranee of Daoudnagur, to whom I had 
sent a copy of the Gospels by the Pundit, returned 
her compliments, and desired to know what must 
be done for obtaining benefit from the book; wheth- 
er prayer, or making a salam (a bow) to it? I sent 
her word she must seek divine instruction in secret 
prayer, and I also added some other advice." 

Little as there was that was promising in either 
of these characters, there was yet more appearance 
of what might be thought hopeful in them, than 
in Mr. Martyn's Moonshee and Pundit, whom he 
still continued to labor, incessantly, though unsuc- 
cessfully, to convince of their awful errors. 

"My faith," he complains again, "tried by many 
things; especially by disputes with the Moonshee 
and the Pundit. The Moonshee shews remarka- 
ble contempt for the doctrine of the Trinity. 4 It 
shews God to be weak (he says,) if he is obliged to 
have a fellow. God was not obliged to become man, 
for, if we had all perished, he would have suffered 
no loss. And as to pardon, and the difficulty of it, 
I pardon my servant very easily, and there is an end. 
As to the Jewish Scriptures, how do I know but 
they were altered by themselves? They were 
wicked enough to do it, just as they made a calf.' — 
In all these things I answered so fully that he had 
nothing to reply." "In the afternoon I had a long 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 251 

argument again with the Pundit. He too wanted 
to degrade the person of Jesus, and said, neither 
Brahma, Vishnu, nor Seib were so low as to be born 
of a woman; and that every sect wished to exalt its 
teacher, and so the Christians did Jesus." 

March 14. — "The quotations which I collected 
from Scripture this day, in treating on the Parable 
of the inconsiderate King, in order to illustrate the 
idea of the sufferings to which Christians are expos- 
ed, seemed to offend both the Moonshee and Pundit 
very much. In considering the text — 'the time 
cometh when he that killeth you shall think he 
doth God service,' he defended the practice of put- 
ting infidels to death, and the certainty of salvation 
to Mooslems dying in battle with the infidels, and 
said, it was no more strange than for a magistrate to 
have power to put an offender to death. He took 
occasion also to say, that the New Testament, as we 
gave it, and the church service also, was stuffed with 
blasphemies. — With the benighted Pundit I had a 
long conversation, as he seemed to be more in earnest 
than I had yet seen him. He asked, whether by 
receiving the Gospel he should see God in a visible 
shape, because, he said, that he had seen Sargoon, 
the deity, made visible: this he affirmed with great 
gravity and earnestness. At night I lost time and 
temper in disputing with the Moonshee, respecting 
the lawfulness of putting men to death for blas- 
phemy. He began by cavilling at the Lord's Prayer 
and ridiculing it, particularly the expression 'hallow- 



£52 MEMOIR OF 






ed be thy name' — as if the name of the Deity was 
not already holy. He said, 'that prayer was not a 
duty amongst the Mahometans, that reading the 
Numaz was merely the praise of God, and that as 
when a servant, after doing his master's duty well, 
thought it a favorable opportunity for asking a favor, 
so the Mooslem, after doing his duty, might ask of 
God riches, or a son, or, if he pleased, patience in 
affliction.' This then is Mahometanism, to murder 
as infidels the children of God, and to live without 
prayer." 

"The conversation with the Pundit more serious 
than it has yet been: and I find that seriousness in 
the declaration of the truths of the Gospel, is likely to 
have more power, than the clearest arguments conveyed 
in a trifling spirit. — I told him, that now he had 
heard the word of Christ, he would not be tried 
at the last day by the same law as the other Brah- 
mins and Hindoos who had never heard it, but in the 
same manner as myself, and other Christians, and 
that I feared, therefore, he was in great danger. 
He said, as usual, that there were many ways to 
God, but I replied, there was no other Savior but 
Christ, because no other Lord bought men with his 
blood, and suffered their punishment for them. This 
effectually silenced him on that head: he then said, 
'he had a house and children, and that to preserve 
them he must retain the favor of the world, that he 
and his friends ydespised idol worship, but that the 



rev. henry martyn; 253 

world would call him wicked if he forsook the ser- 
vice of the gods.' " 

"Pundit grieved me, by shewing that he knew no 
more of the way of salvation than before. Alas! 
how poor and contemptible are all my efforts for 
God, if efforts they can be called. He observed, 
that 'there was nothing express in the book about 
the way of salvation, as to what one must do to be 
saved' — the legalist's question in every land." 

"Pundit observed, that I had said, forgiveness 
would not be given for repentance only; whereas in 
the third Parable, in chap, xv, of St. Luke, the re- 
pentant sinner was received at once. How could 
this be? — for his part, he would rest his hopes on 
the Parables, in preference to the other statements. 
How strange is the reluctance which men have to 
depend on the righteousness of another! The Pun- 
dit affirmed, that he was keeping all the command- 
ments of God. But when I charged him with wor- 
shipping the sun at his morning devotions, he con- 
fessed it; and said it was not forbidden in the Ten 
Commandments. I then read him the passages, 
relating to the worship of the host of heaven, but 
he could see no harm in this species of worship, 
more than making his salam to any other superior. 
With respect to the Sabbath, he said, he had 
always kept that day by fasting, and that all Hindoos 
did the same: but he said no reason was given ip 
the Shaster why it was holy. 
22 



254 MEMOIR OF 

"Talking with Moonshee on the old subjects — 
the Divinity of Christ, Mahomet's challenge, &c. he 
did not know of the method of Mahometan doctors 
teaching, that one passage abrogates another: but 
said, if I could produce two commandments undeni- 
ably opposite, he would throw away the book, and 
seek a new religion. Respecting the promise of 
Mahomet, that they who die fighting for Islam, 
should certainly go to heaven, I said, my objection 
was that the person thus dying might be full of 
envy, Sic. and could such a person go to God? In 
answer to this, he denied that the sins of the heart 
were sins at all: and I could say nothing to convince 
him they were. — To refute what he had said at 
some former times, about Mussulmen not remaining 
in hell for ever, I applied our Savior's Parable about 
the servant beaten with many stripes; and asked 
him, if I had two servants, one of whom knew my 
will, and the other not, and both committed the 
same fault, which was the more culpable? He an- 
swered — 'I suppose he who knew his master's 
will.' — I replied, yet according to you, the enlighten- 
ed Mussulmen are to come out of hell, and Jews 
and Christians, for the same sin, are to remain there 
for ever. He had not a word to reply: but said he 
could give no answer 'uglee,' but only 'nuglee,' — con- 
tradicting it on the authority of the Koran. He 
spoke of the ineffectual endeavor of men to root 
out Islamism, as a proof of its being from God; and 
objected to Christianity, because there were no dif- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN, 255 

faculties in it — devotion only once a week — prayer 
t)i* no prayer, just when or where we pleased — eat- 
ing with or without washing — and that, in general, 
it was a life of carelessness with us." 

Toward the middle of the month of April, an- 
other summons, similar to that which had carried 
Mr. Martyn to Buxar, called him from his studies 
and labors at Dinapore, to Monghir. It was not 
long before he undertook this expedition, that we 
find him thus expressing himself, after an examina- 
tion into the state of his heart before God. "My 
mind much as usual, not tried by any violent as- 
sault of sin or Satan, but the daily cause of grief 
and shame, and indeed the root of all sin is forget- 
fulness of God. I perceive not in what state 1 
have been in, till I come to pray." "Enjoyed a 
greater stability of faith in the divine Redeemer. 
May he make his servant steady, brave and vigi- 
lant in his service." — "Satan assaults me in various 
ways: some of his darts, respecting the person of 
my Lord, were dreadfully severe: but he triumph- 
ed not a moment; I am taught to see what would 
become of me, if God should withdraw his strong 
hand. Is there any depth into which Satan would 
not plunge me?" 

"My soul is sometimes tried with the abounding 
of iniquity, and wounded by infidel thoughts. But 
my Redeemer is risen triumphant, and will not suf- 
fer his feeble servant to be tempted above that I 
am able to bear." — "If there is one thing that re- 



2f)6 MEMOIR OF 

freshes my soul above all other things, it is that I 
shall behold the Redeemer gloriously triumphant at 
the winding up of all things. O thou injured Sove- 
reign, how long dost thou bear this ingratitude from 
wicked mankind!" 

"Still permitted to find sweet refuge in the pres- 
ence of my Lord, from infidelity, and the proud 
world, and the vanities of time." 

"In prayer had an affecting sense of my shameful 
ingratitude. Had I behaved thus to an earthly ben- 
efactor, shewing so little regard for his company, 
and his approbation, how should I abhor myself, and 
be abhorred by all: O what a God is our God! 
How astonishingly rich in grace, bearing all with un- 
ceasing patience, and doing nothing but crown his 
sinful creature with loving kindness and tender mer- 
cies." 

"This is the day I left Cambridge. My thoughts 
frequently recurred with many tender recollections 
to that seat of my beloved brethren, and I again 
wandered in spirit amongst the trees on the banks 
of the Cam." 

"Employed in writing a sermon and translating; 
but heavenly things become less familiar to my 
mind, whilst I am so employed without intermission. 
Yet the whole desire of my heart is towards spir- 
itual enjoyment. O when shall body, soul, and 
spirit, be all duly employed for God!" 

"Dull and poor as my miserable soul is, and think- 
ing very little about heaven, yet for aught else that 



REV. HENRY MARTYtf. 257 

is in the world, existence is scarcely worth having. 
The world seems as empty as air." 

On the 18th of April, Mr. Martjn commenced his 
voyage of nearly a hundred miles to Monghir: — the 
following is an extract from his Journal during the 
eight days which were consumed, in leaving his station 
to marry a couple, and returning afterwards to 
Dinapore. 

"After finishing the correction of the Parables, I 
left Dinapore to go to Monghir — spent the evening 
at Patna with Mr. # * # , talking on literary subjects: 
but my soul was overwhelmed with a sense of my 
guilt, in not striving to lead the conversation to some- 
thing that might be for his spiritual good. My 
general backwardness to speak on spiritual subjects, 
before the unconverted, made me groan in spirit at 
such unfeelingness and unbelief. May the remem- 
brance of what I am made to suffer for these neg- 
lects, be one reason for greater zeal and love in the 
time to come." 

April 19th. — "A melancholy Lord's Day! in the 
morning, at the appointed hour, I found some solem- 
nity and tenderness: the whole desire of my soul 
seemed to be, that all the ministers in India might 
be eminently holy, and that there might be no re- 
mains of that levity, or indolence in any of us, which 
I found in myself. The rest of the day passed 
heavily; for a hurricane of hot wind fastened us on a 
sand-bank, for twelve hours; when the dust was suf- 
focating, and the heat increased the sickness, which 
*22 



258 MEMOIR OF 

| 

was produced by the tossing of the beat, though she- 
was aground, and I frequently fell asleep over my 
work. However, the more I felt tempted to im- 
patience and unbappiness, the more the Lord help- 
ed me to strive against it, and to look at the fulness 
of Jesus Christ Several hymns, particularly 

'There is a fountain filled v>ith blood,' 

were very sweet to me. After all the acquisitions 
of human science, what is there to be compared to 
the knowledge of Christ, and him crucified! — Read 
much of the Scripture history of Saul, and the pre- 
dictions in the latter end of the Revelations. Read 
also Marshall on Sanctificatioe, Cibert's Sermons, 
and Thomas a Kempis/' 

April 20. — "A day very little better. I could 
scarcely keep myself alive, and was much tried by 
evil temper. Employed in writing to * * *, and Mr. 
*** but all I did was without energy: the long- 
wished for night came at last, and my feeble body 
found rest and restoration in sleep/' 

April 21. — "Again the love and mercy of the 
Lord restored me to health and spirits. Began to 
write a sermon en walking in Christ, and found my 
soul benefited by meditation on the subject. In 
the afternoon went on with translations. Arrived 
at sun-set at Monghir."' 

April 22. — "Spent the day at ***'s, found two or 
three opportunities to speak to him about his soul. 
*** threw out some infidel sentiments, which gave 



REV. I1EKRY MARTYR. 259 

rue an opportunity of speaking. But to none of the 
rest was I able to say any thing. Alas! in what a 
state are mankind every where — living without 
God in the world. Married * * * to * * # . 

April 23. — "After baptizing a child of # * % I 
left Monghir, and got on twenty-three miles to Dina- 
pore, very sorrowful in mind, both from the recol- 
lection of having done nothing for the perishing souls 
I had been amongst, and from finding myself so un- 
qualified to write on a spiritual subject, which I had 
undertaken. Alas! the ignorance and carnality of 
my miserable soul! how contemptible must it be in 
the sight of God!" 

April 24. — "Still cast down at my utter inability 
to write any thing profitable on this subject, and at 
my execrable pride and ease of heart. O that I 
could weep with shame and sorrow in the dust, for 
my wickedness and folly! Yet thanks are due to the 
Lord for shewing me, in this way, how much my 
heart has been neglected of late. I see by this, 
how great are the temptations of a Missionary to 
neglect his own soul. Apparently outwardly em- 
ployed for God, my heart has been growing more 
hard and proud. Let me be taught, that the first 
great business on earth, is the sanctification of my 
own soul; so shall I be rendered more capable also 
of performing the duties of the ministry, whether 
amongst the Europeans or Heathen, in a holy and 
solemn manner. O how I detest that levity to 
which I am so subject! — How cruel and unfeeling it 



260 MEMOIR OF 

is! — God is witness, that I would rather, from this 
day forward, weep day and night for the danger of 
immortal souls. But my wickedness seems to take 
such hold of me, that I cannot escape, and my only- 
refuge, is to commit^my soul, with all its corruption, 
into the hands of Christ, to be sanctified and saved 
by the Almighty power of grace. For what can I 
do with myself? my heart is so thoroughly corrupt 
that I cannot keep myself one moment from sin.-^- 
Finished the Koran to-day, and considered with my- 
self, why I rejected it as an imposition, and the rea- 
sons appeared clear and convincing." 

"The budgerow struck with such violence against 
a sand-bank, that a poor Mahometan boy falling, 
with all the rest, broke his arm. We did all we 
could, but the cries of the poor boy went through 
my heart. At night a tremendous North-wester 
came on, but the Lord kept us in safety." 

April 25. — "Morning employed with little success 
on the same subject. I still find it too spiritual for 
my carnal heart. My mind distressed with doubts, 
whether I should make the people observe the Sab- 
bath, by causing them to lie by: but considering, 
that they would not think it a favor, but, on the con- 
trary, a vexation — that they could not sanctify it, 
and that I had not given the Manghee previous no- 
tice before setting out, I resolved to go on; though I 
felt by no means easy, and before setting out again, 
I hope to make up my mind satisfactorily on the 
subject." 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 261 

April 26. — "In prayer, at the appointed hour, I 
felt solemnity of mind, and an earnest desire, that 
the Lord would pour out a double portion of his 
Spirit upon us his Ministers in India; that every one 
of us may be eminent in holiness and ministerial 
gifts. If I were to judge from myself, I should fear 
God had forsaken his Church; for I am most awfully 
deficient in the knowledge and experience requisite 
for a Minister; — but, my dear brother Corrie, bless- 
ed be God, is a man of a better spirit: — may he 
grow more and more in grace, and continue to be 
an example to us! Passed the day in reading and 
prayer, such as my prayers are. My soul struggled 
with corruption, yet I found the merit and grace of 
Jesus all sufficient, and all supporting. — Though my 
guilt seemed like mountains, I considered it as no 
reason for departing from Christ, but rather of 
clinging to him more closely. Thus I got through 
the day, cast down, but not destroyed. The account 
of David's fall affected me more tenderly than ever 
it did, and I could not help weeping over the fall of 
that man of God. Began Scott's Essays, and w 7 as 
surprised indeed at the originality and vigor of the 
sentiments and language. At night arrived at Patna." 

April 27. — "Left Patna and arrived at Dinapore. 
The concourse of people in that great city, was a 
solemn admonition to me to be diligent in study and 
prayer. Thousands of intelligent people togeth- 
er; — no Sabbath — no word of God — no one to give 
them advice — how inscrutable the ways of God!"' 



262 MEMOIR OF 

Mr. Martyn had no sooner returned to Dinapore. 
than he heard, to his sorrow and surprise, that the 
Ranee, to whom he had sent a Testament, together 
with some advice upon the subject of religion, was 
about to dispatch a messenger to him, to request a 
letter of recommendation to one of the judges, be- 
fore whom she had a cause pending, in which her 
dominions were at stake. "I felt hurt," he says, "at 
considering how low a sovereign Princess must be 
fallen to make such a request; but lost no time in 
apprising her, that our laws were perfectly distinct 
from the divine laws, and that therefore this was no 
affair of mine as she seemed to suppose." 

In Mr. Marty n's schools so much progress had 
now been made, that it became necessary to deter- 
mine what books should be placed in the hands of 
the children who could read. To give them at first 
the book of the Parables, which he had prepared 
for their use, would, it was feared, awaken suspi- 
cions in the breasts of their parents, who had al- 
ready shewn much jealousy respecting his designs. 
Thought it the wisest measure to permit them to 
use one of the Hindoo books; after having had it 
previously read to him. It was a book which, if it 
did no good, could (he thought) do no harm, as it 
was an old Hindu wee poem, on an Avatar of Vishnu, 
which it was impossible for the children to under- 
stand. 

His judgment on this question, one of some diffi- 
culty aud embarrassment, is thus given in a letter to 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 263 

Mr. Corrie. "Your schools flourish — blessed be 
God! The Dinapore school is resorted to from all 
quarters, even from the other side of the river. 
The Bankipore school is also going on well. I do 
not institute more till I see the Christian books in- 
troduced. The more schools the more noise, and 
more inquiry; and more suspicion of its being of a po- 
litical nature. Besides, if all the schools were to come 
to a demur together, I fear their deciding against 
us; but if one or two schools, with much thought 
about it, comply with our wishes, it will be a pre- 
cedent and example to others. / think you should 
not dictate which of their books should be given, but 
only reserve the power of rejecting amongst those which 
they propose. I bless God that you are brought to 
act with me in a broad and cautious plan: but I trust 
our motto shall be, 'constant though cautious' — nev- 
er ceasing to keep our attention fixed steadily on 
the state of things; and being swift to embrace 
every opportunity." 

Amidst many causes of discouragement — from the 
inattention of the women who attended his exposi- 
tions on the Sabbath — the general profanation of 
that holy day by Europeans, notwithstanding his 
solemn and repeated remonstrances — and the vacil- 
lating conduct of some of his flock, whom he had 
hoped to have seen stronger and bolder in their 
Master's cause — a letter from a young officer desir- 
ing, at this time, an acquaintance with Mr. Marty n, 
on a religious account, was to him a source of the 



264 MEMOIR OF 

most cheering delight: and yet, before the receipt 
of it, he could bless God, that he "felt impregnable 
to any discouragement — it was not," said he, "that 
I was indifferent, or that I saw some encouraging cir- 
cumstances — but I was made to reflect, that I was 
the servant of God, in these things, and that he 
would bring his purposes to pass, some way or 
other," 

In addition to Mr. Martyn's studies in Sanscrit, 
Persian, and Hindoostanee, we find him now sedu- 
lously employed in reading Leland against the Deis- 
tical Writers; and thence drawing out arguments 
against the Koran. — But being fearful lest, in the 
midst of these pursuits, his spirit should decline as 
to far more important points, he thus speaks — 
"May my soul, in prayer, never rest satisfied, with- 
out the enjoyment of God! May all my thoughts 
be fixed on him! May I sit so loose to every employ- 
ment here, that I may be able, at a moment's warn- 
ing, to take my departure for another world! May 
I be taught to remember, that all other studies 
are merely subservient to the great work of minis- 
tering holy things to immortal souls! May the most 
holy works of the ministry, and those which re- 
quire most devotedness of soul, be the most dear to 
my heart!" 

Mr. Martyn, whilst thus occupied, was called to 
the decision of a practical question of greater mo- 
ment and difficulty, than that respecting the intro- 
duction of books into the schools; — application 






REV. HEISRY MARTTN. 265 

having been made to him for baptism, by one of the 
native women. This request, as the candidate 
manifested no signs of penitence or faith, and could 
bv no means be made to comprehend what farther 
was necessary to be a Christian, than to say the 
Lord's Prayer — he found himself compelled to re- 
fuse. — "The party," said he, "went away in great 
distress, and I felt much for them, but the Lord, I 
trust, will not suffer me to listen to my own feel- 
ings, and profane his holy ordinances." That this 
point had been a matter of anxious consideration 
with him, we learn from a letter to Mr. Corrie. — 
"Your account of a native woman, whom you bap- 
tized, came in season for me; I have been subjected 
to similar perplexities: but I think no one could re- 
fuse baptism in the case you mention. The woman 
who is now making the same petition here, promises 
to marry, and comes frequently for instruction, but 
her heart is not touched with any tender sense of 
sin, and of her need of mercy. Yet if there be no 
scandal in her life, and she profess her belief in 
those points, in which they are interrogated, in the 
baptismal service, may I lawfully refuse? I cannot 
tell what to do; I seem almost resolved not to 
administer the ordinance, till convinced, in my own 
mind, of the true repentance of the person. The 
eventual benefit will be great, if we both steadily 
adhere to this purpose; they will see that our Chris- 
tians and those of the Papists are different, and 
will be led to investigate what it is in our opinion 
23 



266 



MEMOIR OF 



that is wanted." The determination to reject those 
candidates for admission into the Church of Eng- 
land, who were manifestly ignorant of the spirit of 
Christianity, though convinced of the truth of it, 
was fully adopted by Mr. Martyn, after mature con- 
sideration, and the decision doubtless was agreeable 
to the Word of God and to the practice of the 
primitive times. 

Much time, we have already seen, had been 
devoted by Mr. Martyn to the translation of the 
Scriptures into Hindoostanee, both before and since 
he quitted Calcutta. To these exertions, for the 
honor and glory of God, a new stimulus was 
added, by a proposal, in the month of June in this 
year, from the Rev. David Brown, that he would 
engage more directly in that important work, in 
which he had already proceeded to the end of the 
Acts of the Apostles: as also that he would super- 
intend the translation of the Scriptures into Persian. 
This proposal he eagerly, yet diffidently accepted — 
and animated by the expectation of beholding his 
labors brought to a successful termination, he prose- 
cuted them with a delight, commensurate with his 
ardent diligence. 

"The time fled imperceptibly," he observes, "so 
delightfully engaged in the translations; the days 
seemed to have passed like a moment. Blessed be 
God for some improvement in the languages! May 
everv thins: be for edification in the church! What 
de I not owe the Lord, for permitting me to take 



REV. HENRY MARTYN.. 267 

part in a translation of his word — never did I see 
such wonder and wisdom and love in the blessed 
book, as since I have been obliged to study every 
expression; and it is a delightful reflection, that 
death cannot deprive us of the pleasure of studying 
its mysteries." 

"All day at translations — employed a good while 
at night in considering a difficult passage, and being 
much enlightened respecting it, I went to bed full of 
astonishment, at the wonder of God's word: never 
did I see any thing of the beauty of the language 
and importance of the thoughts as I do now. I felt 
happy, that I should never be finally separated from 
the contemplation of them, or of the things about 
which they are written. Knowledge shall vanish 
away, but it shall be because perfection shall come. 
Then shall I see as I am seen, and know as I am 
known." 

"What a source of perpetual delight have I in the 
precious book of God! O that my heart were more 
spiritual to keep pace with my understanding, and 
that I could feel as I know! May my root and foun- 
dation be deep in love, and may I be able to compre- 
hend, v/ith all saints, what is the breadth, length, 
and depth, and height and to know the love of 
Christ which passeth knowledge, and may I be filled 
with all the fulness of God!" adding in his accustomed 
spirit of incessant watchfulness — "May the Lord, in 
mercy to my soul, save me from setting up an idol of 
any sort in his place, as I do by preferring even a 



268 MEMOIR OF 

work, professedly for him, to a communion with him. 
How obstinate the reluctance of the natural heart 
to love God! But O my soul, be not deceived, thy 
chief work upon earth is to obtain sanctification, and 
to walk with God. 4 To obey is better than sacrifice, 
and to hearken than the fat of rams.' Let me learn 
from this, that to follow the direct injunctions of 
God, about my own soul, is more my duty, than to 
be engaged in other works, under pretence of doing 
him service." 

Scarcely had Mr. Martyn girded up his loins, 
with the great and heavenly design of completing a 
version of the Scriptures in Hindoostanee, and super- 
intending one in the Persian tongue, when the sove- 
reign, wise, and infinite love of his God, summoned 
him to endure an affliction, more grievous than any 
that had befallen him, since those first bitter tears 
which he shed at the death of his father. — Appre- 
hensions for the loss of his eldest sister had been ex- 
cited in his mind, by some expressions she herself 
had dropped, in a letter which reached him a few 
weeks before he received the fatal intelligence that 
she was no more. A period of torturing suspense, 
terminated in one of inexpressible sorrow. "But 
blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord." 
Gleams of this blessedness shone forth from the 
clouds of that dark dispensation with which Mr. 
Martyn was now visited. "O my heart, my heart," 
he exclaimed, "is it, can it be, true, that she has 
been lying so many months in the cold grave! would 



i 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 269 

that I could always remember it, or always forget it, 
but to think for a moment of other things, and then 
to feel the remembrance of it come, as if for the 
first time, rends my heart asunder. When I look 
round upon the creation, and think that her eyes see it 
not, but have closed upon it for ever; that I lie down 
in my bed, but that she has lain down in her grave, 
O! is it possible! I wonder to find myself still in life 
— that the same tie that united us in life, had not 
brought death at the same moment to both. O 
great and gracious God! what should I do without 
Thee! But now thou art manifesting thyself as the 
God of all consolation to my soul — never was I so 
near thee: I stand on the brink, and I long to take 
my flight. There is not a thing in the world for 
which I could wish to live, except because it may 
please God to appoint me some work. And how 
shall my soul be ever thankful enough to thee, O 
thou most incomprehensibly glorious Savior Jesus! 
O what hast thou done to alleviate the sorrows of 
life! and how great has been the mercy of God to- 
wards my family, in saving us all! How dreadful 
would be the separation of relations in death, were 
it not for Jesus." 

Mr. Martyn's mind, under this painful deprivation, 
was comforted exceedingly, by a sure and certain 
hope, as it respected her for whom he mourned. 
That delightful expectation of meeting her in glory, 
which he has now realized, was one powerful sup- 
port to his heart, then overwhelmed within him: 
#23 



270 MEMOIR OF 

for the letter which contained the account of his loss, 
left him happily no room to doubt of his sister's eter- 
nal gain; and that, through the grave and gate of 
death, she had passed into the consummation of 
bliss, in the eternal and everlasting kingdom of 
Christ. 

"The European letter," he wrote to Mr. Brown, 
"contained the intelligence of the death of my 
eldest sister. A few lines received from herself, 
about three weeks ago, gave me some melancholy 
forebodings of her danger. But though the Lord 
thus compassionately prepared me for this affliction, 
I hardly knew how to bear it. We were more 
united in affection to one another, than to any of our 
relations; and now she is gone, I am left to fulfil, as a 
hireling, my day, and then I shall follow her. She 
had been many years under some conviction of her 
sins, but not till her last illness sought in earnest for 
salvation. Some weeks before her death she felt 
the burthen of sin, and cried earnestly for pardon 
and deliverance, and continued in the diligent use of 
the appointed means of grace. Two days before 
her death, when no immediate danger was appre- 
hended, my youngest sister visited her, and was sur- 
prised and delighted at the change which had taken 
place. Her convictions of sin were deep, and her 
views clear, her only fear was on account of her 
own unworthiness. Sh« asked, with many tears, 
Avhether there was mercy for one who had been so 
.great a sinner; though in the eyes of the world she 






REV. HENRY MARTYN. 271 

had been an exemplary wife and mother: and said, 
she believed the Lord would have mercy upon her, 
because she knew he had wrought on her mind by 
his Spirit. Two days after this conversation, she 
suddenly and unexpectedly left this world of woe, 
while her sister was visiting a dying friend at a dis- 
tance. This you will tell me, my dear Mr. Brown, 
is precious consolation, indeed I am constrained to 
acknowledge, that I could hardly ask for greater, 
for I had already parted with her for ever, in this 
life, and after that, all I wished for was, to hear of 
her being converted to God, and if it was his will, 
taken away in due time, from the evil to come, and 
brought to glory before me — yet human nature 
bleeds — her departure has left this world a frightful 
blank to me, and I feel not the smallest wish to live, 
except there be some work assigned for me to do 
in the church of God." 

Acutely as Mr. Martyn suffered, such importance 
did he attach to those studies, which had in view 
the manifestation of the Gospel to regions "sitting 
in darkness and the shadow of death," that he 
omitted the prosecution of them, at this period, only 
for a single day. It was a duty, he thought, in- 
cumbent on him to return to his work, as soon as 
possible, however heavily his mind might be bur- 
thened; for his expressions, many days afterward, 
declare into what depths of grief he was sunk. "My 
heart," said he, "is still oppressed, but it is not ^ 
^sorrow tha,t worketh death.' Though nature 



272 



MEMOIR OF 



weeps at being deprived of all hopes of ever see- 
ing this dear companion on earth, faith is hereby 
brought more into exercise. How sweet to feel 
dead to all below, to live only for eternity; to for- 
get the short interval that lies between us and the 
spiritual world; and to live always seriously. The 
seriousness which this sorrow produces is indescrib- 
ably precious; O that I could always retain it, when 
these impressions shall be w 7 orn away! My studies 
have been the Arabic Grammar and Persian — 
writing Luke for the women, and dictating 1 Pet. i, 
to Moonshee. Finished the Gulistan of Sadi, and 
began it again to mark all the phrases which may be 
of use in the translation of the Scriptures." 

One fruit of Mr. Marty ri's prayers and result of 
his prudence, was the successful introduction, shortly 
after this, of the Sermon on the Mount, into his 
schools; and on the 21st of September he had the 
exquisite joy of hearing the poor Heathen boys 
reading the words of the Lord Jesus. U A wise 
man's heart," saith Solomon, "discerneth both time 
and judgment." It was in this spirit of patient and 
dependant wisd m, that Mr. Martyn had acted re- 
specting the schools, and it was the same rare tem- 
per of mind which prevailed on him still to abstain 
from preaching publicly to the natives: again and 
again did be burn to begin his ministry in Patna — 
but again and again did he feel deeply the impor- 
tance of not being precipitate: it was not, howevc 
without much difficulty, that he checked the ardor of 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 278 

his zeal He was determined to see what the insti- 
tution of schools, and the quiet distribution of the 
Scriptures would effect; and was convinced, that 
public preaching aifirst,\\as incompatible with this 
plan of procedure, whereas it was clear that a way 
would thus be opened for preaching, of which ob- 
ject he never lost sight. It was this whicli made 
him resist the solicitations of those friends, who 
would have detained him at Calcutta; and this it 
was which now occasioned him to decline a very 
pressing invitation from Mr. Brown, urging him to 
take the Missionary Church at the Presidency. But 
Dinapore was in the midst of the Heathen; and Di- 
napore, further, was a scene of tranquil retirement. 
These two considerations, caused Mr. Martyn to 
refuse to comply with the very earnest desire of one 
whom he entirely esteemed and loved. "If ever I 
am fixed at Calcutta," he wrote in reply, "I have 
done with the natives, for notwithstanding previous 
determinations, the churches and people at Calcutta 
are enough to employ twenty Ministers. This is 
one reason for my apparently unconquerable aver- 
sion to being fixed there. The happiness of being 
near and with you, and your dear family, would not 
be a compensation for the disappointment; and hav- 
ing said this, I know of no stronger method of my 
expressing my dislike to the measure. If God com- 
mands it, I trust I shall have grace to 'obey: but let 
me beseech you all, to take no step towards it, for 
I shall resist it as Ions as I can with a safe con- 



274 MEMOIR OF 

"I am happier here in this remote land," he wrote 
in his Journal, "where I hear so seldom of what 
happens in the world, than in England, where there 
are so many calls to look at the things that are seen* 
How sweet the retirement in which I live here. 
The precious word, now my only study, by means of 
translations. Though in a manner buried from the 
world, neither seeing nor seen by Europeans, here 
the time flows on with great rapidity: it seems as if 
life would be gone, before any thing is done, or even 
before any thing is begun. I sometimes rejoice that 
I am not twenty-seven years of age, and that, unless 
God should order it otherwise, I may double .the 
number in constant and successful labor. If not, 
God has many, many more instruments at command, 
and I shall not cease from my happiness, and scarcely 
from my work, by departing into another world. O 
what shall separate us from the love of Christ! nei- 
ther death nor life, I am persuaded. O let me feel my 
security, that I may be, as it were, already in heav- 
en; that I may do all my work, as the angels do 
theirs; and O let me be ready for every work! be 
ready to leave this delightful solitude, or remain in 
it; to go out, or go in; to stay, or depart, just as the 
Lord shall appoint. Lord, let me have no will of 
my own; or consider my true happiness as depend- 
ing, in the smallest degree, on any thing that can 
befal the outward man, but as consisting altogether 
in conformity to God's will. May I have Christ 
here with me in this world, not substituting imagin* 



REV. HENRY MARTYJT. 275 

ation in the place of faith; but seeing outward 
things as they really are, and thus obtaining a radical 
conviction of their vanity." 

Mr. Martyn's spirits being much depressed by his 
recent affliction, an invitation or rather entreaty, 
strongly pressed upon him by one, who had a great 
share in his affection and esteem, which called, as he 
conceived, for a direct and firm rejection, could not 
but be a matter of some trial to him. He had not, 
however, the additional pain of witnessing the slight- 
est variation in his friend's attachment: a circum- 
stance, which does not always occur on similar occa- 
sions: for the fondness even of Christian friendship, 
will sometimes suffer an interruption, upon a disa- 
greement respecting favorite projects and designs. 

To this perturbation of mind, comparatively light, 
a very severe disappointment from another quarter 
succeeded — a disappointment intended, doubtless, 
like his other troubles, for the augmentation of his 
faith. Such strong representations had been made, 
by those whose judgment he valued not a little, re- 
specting the dreariness of a distant station in India, 
and the evils of solitude, that he had deemed it 
agreeable to the will of God, to make an overture 
of marriage to her, for whom time had increased, 
rather than diminished, his affection. This over- 
ture, for reasons which afterwards commended 
themselves to Mr. Martyn's own judgment, was now 
declined; on which occasion, suffering sharply as a 
man, but most meekly as a Christian, he said, "the 



276 MEMOIR OF 

Lord sanctify this; and since this last desire of my 
heart is also withheld, may I turn away for ever 
from the world, and henceforth live forgetful of all 
but God. With thee, O my God, is no disappoint- 
ment. I shall never have to regret, that I have 
loved thee too well Thou hast said, 'delight thy- 
self in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires 
of thy heart,' " 

"At first I was more grieved," he wrote sometime 
afterwards, "at the loss of my gourd, than of the 
perishing Ninevehs all around me: but now my 
earthly woes, and earthly attachments, seem to be 
absorbing in the vast concern of communicating the 
Gospel to these nations. After this last lesson 
from God, on the vanity of the creature, I feel de- 
sirous to be nothing — to have nothing — to ask for 
nothing but what he gives." 

Providentially for Mr. Martyn's comfort, his 
thoughts were much occupied, just after the receipt 
of this letter, by the arrival of his co-adjutors in the 
work of translation; one of them, Mirza of Benares, 
well known in India as an eminent scholar in the 
Hindoostanee; the other, Sabat the Arabian, but 
too well known both in India and England for his 
rejection of that faith, which he then appeared to 
possess in sincerity and truth. In the latter of these, 
Mr. Martyn confidently trusted that he had found a 
Christian brother. Nor were these hopes, respect- 
ing Sabat's religious character, more sanguine than 
both in reason and charity, he might fairly have en- 



REV. HE:rRY MARTYN. 



277 



tertained. Of his abilities a most favorable report 
had been made by Dr. Ker of Madras, who repre- 
sented him, as a man of good family in Arabia, as 
having been employed as an expounder of Mahome- 
tan law at Masulipatam, and as being well skilled fai 
the literature of his country. With respect to the 
reality of his belief in Christianity, although Mr. 
Martyn immediately discovered in him an unsubdued 
Arab spirit, and witnessed, with pain, many deflec- 
tions from that temper and conduct which he him- 
self so eminently exemplified; yet he could not but 
believe all things, and hope all things, even while he 
continued to suffer much from him, and for a length 
of time with unparalleled forbearance and kindness. 
How could he allow himself to cherish any doubt, 
when he beheld the tears he shed in prayer, and 
listened to the confessions he made of his sinfulness, 
and to the professions he uttered of his willingness 
to correct whatever was reprehensible in his be- 
havior. No sooner had he arrived at Dinapore, 
than he opened to Mr. Martyn the state of his 
mind; declaring, with seeming contrition, that the 
constant sin he found in his heart filled him with 
fear. "If the Spirit of Christ is given to believers, 
why, said he, am I thus, after three years believing? 
I determine every day to keep Christ crucified in 
sight; but I forget to think of him! I can rejoice 
when I think of God's love in Christ; but then I 
am like a sheep that feeds happily, whilst he looks 
only at the pasturage before him-, but when he looks 
24 



.278 MEMOIR OP 

behind and sees the lion, he cannot eat." "His life 
(he avowed) was of no value to him; the experience 
he had had of the instability of the world had 
weaned him from it; his heart was like a looking- 
gkss, fit for nothing except to be given the glass- 
maker, to be moulded anew." Can we wonder, 
concerning one who uttered, with apparent sincerity 
and much earnestness, such sentiments as these, that 
Mr. Martyn should observe to Mr. Brow T n, who 
had sent him from Calcutta to Dinapore, "not to 
esteem him a monument of grace, and love him, is 
impossible." And truly, notwithstanding all that 
time has since developed, who will not hesitate in 
attributing to Sabat, the guilt of a systematic and 
well-concerted tissue of hypocrisy; and not rather 
conclude that his judgment was at that time en- 
lightened, and his heart in some measure impressed, 
with a sense of what he believed? Very soon, in- 
deed, was Mr. Martyn called to rejoice over this 
Mahometan convert with great fear and trembling; 
for scarcely had he reached Dinapore, when the 
violence of his temper began to manifest itself. The 
first Sunday after he came to church, conceiving 
that all due respect was not shewn him, he would 
not wait till service began, but abruptly left the 
church and returned home; yet, on Mr. Martyn's 
expostulations at his turning his back upon the house 
of God, on account of an insult which was unintend- 
ed, he instantly confessed, with seeming humiliation, 






REV. HENRY MARTY,N. 



279 



that he had two dispositions, one his old one, which 
was -a soldier's, and the other a Christian's. 

Many other signs of an unhumbled spirit in Sabat 
gave rise to many differences, which were singu- 
larly distressing to a man of such meekness as Mr. 
Martyn. Even before the conclusion of that year, 
which when Sabat entered under Mr. Martyn's 
roof, was drawing to its close, he was so grieved at 
his spirit, that he could find relief only in prayers 
for him. — Yet however disquieted he might and 
could not but be, at what he was called hourly 
to witness in one brought into such near contact 
with him, and bearing: the name of a Christian 
brother, his own mind nevertheless enjoyed a large 
measure of "that perfect peace" in which those are 
kept whose minds are stayed on God. He was 
continually "rejoicing in the solid ground of Jesus' 
imputed righteousness;" the greatness, the magnifi- 
cence, the wisdom of which, filled his mind, and he 
was continually thinking, "O how is every hour lost 
that is not spent in the love and contemplation of 
God, my God. O send out thy light and thy truth; 
that I may live always sincerely, always affection- 
ately, towards God!" "To live without sin I cannot 
expect in this world, but to desire to live without it 
may be the experience of every moment;" and he 
closed the year like him who, at the end of a psalm 
of holy and joyful aspirations, exclaims, "I have 
gone astray like a lost sheep," in the following strain 
ei' brokenness of spirit and abasement of soul: "I 



280 memoir 

seem to myself permitted to exist only through the 
inconceivable compassion of God. When I think of 
my shameful incapacity for the ministry, arising 
from my neglect, I see reason to tremble, though 
I cannot weep. I feel willing to be a neglected out- 
cast, unfit to be made useful to others, provided my 
dear brethren are prosperous in their ministry." 

In the midst of various weighty employments, 
and in the midst of much tribulation, Mr. Martyn 
passed into the year 1808, on the first day of which 
he thus reverted to his past life! — "Few or no chan- 
ges have occurred in the course of the last year. I 
have been more settled than for many years past. 
The events which have taken place, most nearly 
interesting to myself, are, my sister's death, and my 
disappointment about # * # ; on both these afflictions 
I have seen love inscribed, and that is enough. 
What I think I want, it is still better to want: but 
I am often wearied with this world of woe. I set 
my affections on the creature, and am then torn from 
it; and from various other causes, particularly the 
prevalence of sin in my heart, I am often so full of 
melancholy, that I hardly know what to do for relief. 
Sometimes I say, ; that I had wings like a dove, 
then would I flee away and be at rest;' at other 
times, in my sorrow about the creature, I have no 
w 7 ish left for my heavenly rest. It is the grace and 
favor of God that have saved me liitherto^my igno- 
rance, waywardness, and wickedness would long 
since have plunged me into misery; but there seems 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 281 

to be a mighty exertion of mercy and grace upon my 
sinful nature every day, to keep me from perishing 
at last. My attainments in the Divine Life, in this 
last year, seem to be none at all; I appear, on the 
contrary, to be more self-willed and perverse, and 
more like many of my countrymen, in arrogance and 
a domineering spirit over the natives. The Lord 
save me from my wickedness! Henceforth let my 
soul, humbly depending on the grace of Christ, per- 
fect holiness in the fear of God, and shew towards 
all Europeans and Natives, the mind that was in 
Christ Jesus!" 

In the beginning of this year, Mr. Martyn's situ- 
ation at Dinapore was rendered far less agreeable, 
much as he loved retirement, by the removal of the 
only family with whom he lived upon terms of Chris- 
tian intimacy; a family for whom he had no common 
affection; to whom he had been tl^e means of first 
imparting serious impressions; whoi&he had exhort- 
ed, watched over, and prayed for, and whom he un- 
ceasingly followed with his intercessions, when he 
could no longer reach them with his exhortations. 
"The departure of* * # (he writes,) seemed to leave 
me without human comfort; my regard for them has 
increased very much of late; I have seen marks of 
grace more evidently. It is painful to be deprived 
of them just at this time; yet the Lord knoweth 
them that are his, and will keep them,, through faith, 
unto eternal salvation,'" 
#24 



282 



MEMOIR OF 



This separation affected him the more sensibly, 
because it was not with every family, at that station, 
that he met with a kind, much less a cordial, recep- 
tion, "i called," says he, "on the 15th of January, 
on one of the Dinapore families, and felt my pride 
rise at the uncivil manner in which I was received. 
I was disposed, at first, to determine never to visit 
the house again, but I remembered the words, 'over- 
come evil with good.' " 

So much as Mr. Martyn was concerned for the 
salvation of the Heathen, it will readily be surmised, 
that the state of the Native Christians, sunk as 
they were into a condition of equal ignorance and 
wickedness with the Heathen, would excite his pe« 
culiar sympathy and anxiety. Their lamentable 
case was never forgotten by him. At the com- 
mencement of the present year, especially, it lay so 
near his heart, that he resolved to ascertain what 
might be effected in behalf of those wretched peo- 
ple at Patna, who had a name to live, but were 
dead. Without loss of time, therefore, he made 
an offer to the Roman Catholics there, of preaching 
to them en Sundays — but the proposal was rejected: 
had it been accepted, he purposed to have made it 
the ground-work of a more extensive publication of 
the Gospel to the inhabitants at large. "Millions 
perishing (he said, much affected at the reflection,) 
in the neighborhood of one who can preach the 
Gospel to them! how wonderful! I trust the Lord 
will open a great and effectual door. for faith, 
zeal, courage, love!" 



REV. HEJfRY MARTYR. 283 

In consequence of the slate of the weather at 
this season of the year, the public celebration of 
Divine Service on the Sabbath, was suspended for 
a considerable time at Dinapore; a circumstance as 
painful to Mr. Martyn, as it was pleasing to the 
careless and worldly part of his congregation. Upon 
the serious inconvenience, and yet more serious det- 
riment, to the spiritual interest of his flock, in being 
destitute of a church, he had already presented a 
memorial to the Governor-General, and orders to 
provide a proper place for Public Worship had been 
issued; nothing effectual, however, was yet done, and 
Mr. Martyn's love of the souls entrusted to him, not 
allowing him to bear the thought of their being 
scattered for a length of time, as sheep without a 
shepherd, he came to the resolution of opening his 
own house, as a place in which the people might as- 
semble in this emergency. About the middle of 
February, he writes, "As many of the European 
regiment as were effective, were accommodated un- 
der my roof; and, praise be to God, we had the 
public ordinances once more. My text was from 
Isaiah iv, 5. 'The Lord will create upon every 
dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assem- 
blies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of 
a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall 
be a defence.' In the afternoon, I waited for the 
women, but not one came: perhaps notice had not 
been given them, by some mistake. At the hospi- 
tal, and with the men at night, I was engaged, as 



284 MEMOIR OF 

iisua', in prayer: my soul panted after the living 
God, but it remained tied and bound with corrup- 
tion. I felt as if I would have given the world to 
be brought to be alone with God, and the promise 
that this is the will of God, even our sanctiiication, 
was the right hand that upheld me while I followed 
after him. When low in spirits, through an unwil- 
lingness to take up the cross, I found myself more 
resigned, by endeavoring to realize the thought that 
had often composed me in my trials on board the 
ship — that 1 was born to suffer: suffering is my daily 
appointed portion: let this reconcile me to every 
thing! To have a will of my own, not agreeable to 
God's, is a most tremendous wickedness. I own it 
is so for a few moments: but, Lord, write it on my 
heart! In perfect meekness and resignation let me 
take what befals me in the path of duty, and never 
dare to think of being dissatisfied." , As far as it 
respected Mr. Martyn's health, a temporary inter- 
ruption of his ministerial duty would have proved a 
favorable occurrence: he was beginning again to suf- 
fer from some severe pains in the chest, which first 
attacked him in the autumn of the preceding year: 
"desiring to be as a flame of fire in the service of 
his God, and panting for the full employment of 
every day, the early morning, as well as the closing 
evening, found him engaged in his delightful labors. 
But he perceived that the body could not keep 
pace with his soul, in this career of unceasing ac- 
tivity: "the earthly tabernacle weighed down the 



REY. HENRY MARTYR. 28j3 

spirit whilst musing upon many things.-' and com- 
pelled him, for a while at least, to moderate the ve- 
hemence of these exertions. By the month of 
March, however, that great work, for which myri- 
ads in the ages yet to come will gratefully remember 
and revere the name of Martyn — -the version of the 
New Testament into Hindoostanee, was brought to a 
completion; nor, if we consider how much time he 
had spent upon it, ever since he arrived at Calcutta, 
and how laboriously he prosecuted it, after Mr. 
Brown had summoned him to direct all his efforts 
to that end, can it be affirmed that it was hurried 
to a conclusion with a heedless and blameable pre- 
cipitancy. 

"'Twas not the hasty product of a day; 
But the well-ripened fruit of wise delay." 

"It is a real refreshment to my spirit, (Mr. Mar- 
tyn remarks to Mr. Corrie, just at the moment of 
sending off the first page of the Testament to Cal- 
cutta, in the beginning of April,) to take up my pen 
to write to you. — Such a week for labor I believe 
I never passed, not excepting even the last week 
before going into the Senate-House. I have read 
and corrected the manuscript copies of my Hindoos- 
tanee Testament so often, that my eyes ache. The 
heat is terrible, often at 93°; the nights insupport- 
able." Such was his energy in a climate tending to 
beguile him into ease and indolence; so entirely 
"whatever he had to do, did he do it with all his 
might" 



288 MEMOIR OF 

Throughout the remainder of the year 1808. Mr. 
Martyn's life flowed on in the same course of use- 
fulness and uniformity. He continued to minister to 
the Europeans and the Natives at the hospital, and 
daily received the more religious part of his flock at 
his own house, whilst his health permitted: to this 
was added the revisal of the sheets of the Hindoos- 
tanee version of the Testament, which he had com- 
pleted; the superintendance of the Persian transla- 
tion, confided to Sabat; and the study of Arabic, 
that he might be fully competent to superintend 
another version of the Testament into that tongue. 
From the even tenor of a life like this, it cannot be 
expected that incidents of a very striking nature 
should arise: yet the description which he himself has 
given of it, in the following extracts from a free and 
frequent correspondence with his endeared friends 
and brethren, the Rev. David Brown and the Rev. 
Daniel Corrie, will not be wholly devoid of interest 
to those who have hitherto watched him, with love 
and admiration, in his way towards Heaven. 






TO THE REV. D. BROWN. 

"April to, 1 SO* 

"This day I have received yours of the 8th: like 
the rest of your letters, it set my thoughts en full 
gallop, from which I can hardly recover my breath. 
Sabat's letter I hesitate to give him, lest it should 
make him unhappy again. He is at this moment 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 287 

more quiet and Christian in his deportment, than I 
have yet seen him. Arabic now employs my few 
moments of leisure. In consequence of reading the 
Koran with Sabat audibly, and drinking no wine, 
the slander is gone forth amongst the Christians at 
Patna, that the Dinapore Padre is turned Mu$sul- 



TO THE SAME. 

•April 26, 1808. 

"This day I sent off a chapter of Hindoostanee 
of vSt. Matthew; the name I design for my work is 
* — Benoni, the son of my affliction: for through great 
tribulation will it come out. Sabat has kept me 
much upon the fret this week: when we had reach- 
ed the ninth chapter, the idea seized him, that 
Mirza might receive some honor from his inspect" 
ing the work. He stopped immediately, and say 
what I will, he determines not to give me the 
smallest help in correcting the Hindoostanee*" 



TO THE REV. D. CORRIE. 

May 9, 1808, 

"Sabat having one of his head-aches, leaves me 
at liberty to take a complete sheet. This week 
has passed, as usual, in comparing the Persian and 
Greek; yet we are advanced no further than the 



238 MEMOIR OF 

end of the 15th of Matthew. Notwithstanding the 
vexation and disappointment Sabat has occasioned 
me, I have enjoyed a more peaceable week than 
ever since his arrival. I do not know how you find 
the heat, but here it is dreadful; in one person's 
quarters yesterday it was at 102°: perhaps on that 
account scarcely any women came. Another rea- 
son I assign is, that I rebuked one of them last Sun- 
day, yet very gently, for talking and laughing in 
the church before I came; so yesterday they shew- 
ed their displeasure by not coming at all. I spoke 
to them on the Parable of the Great Supper: the 
old woman, who is always so exemplary in her 
attention, shed many tears; I have endeavored to 
speak to her sometimes, but she declines conversa- 
tion: I feel interested about her, there is so much 
sorrow and meekness depictured in her counte- 
nance, but she always crosses herself after the 
service is over. Yesterday, for the first time, I 
baptized a child in Hindoostanee. — My Europeans, 
this week, have not attended very well — fifteen in- 
stead of twenty-five; some of them, indeed, are in 
the hospital: the hospital is a town of itself — how 
shall I ever be faithful to them all!" 



TO THE REV. D. BROWN. 

May 31, 1808. 

"Yours of the 24th instant arrived to-day, and 
relierad me from much anxiety respecting your 



REY. HENRY MARTYX. 289 

©wn health. Still you do not say whether the 
Hindoostanee sheets are arrived. I do not wonder 
at your inquiring about the Persian. — To-day we 
finished comparing St. Matthew with the Greek, if 
it may be called a comparison; for, partly owing to 
the errors of the scribe, rendering whole verses 
unintelligible, and partly on account of Sabat's anx- 
iety to preserve the rhythm, which often required 
the change of a whole sentence for a single word, 
it is a new translation: we have labored hard at it 
to-day, from six in the morning till four in the after- 



TO THE REV. D. BROWN. 



June 7, 1508. 



"This day we have sent the Persian of St. Mat- 
thew. Sabat is not a little proud of it. Your de- 
sign of announcing the translation, as printed at the 
expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, I 
highly approve; 1 wish to see honor put upon so god- 
like an Institution, Mirza returned yesterday, and 
again there are symptoms of disquiet in Sabat. — 
Pray for us." 



to the rev. d. corrie. 

"June 16, 180P; 

-To-day we have completed the Persian of St. 
Matthew, and to-morrow it is to he sent off to be 
25 



*^0 MEMOIR OP 

printed Sabat desired me to kneel down to bless 
God for the happy event, and we joined in praise 
to the Father of Lights. It is a superb perform- 
ance in every respect. Sabat is prodigiously proud 
of it: I wish some mistakes may not be found in it to- 
put him to shame. Among the events of the late 
week is the earthquake; we were just reading the 
passage of the 26th of Matthew, on earthquakes in 
divers places, when I felt my chair shake under 
me, then some pieces of the plaister fell, on which 
I sprang up and ran out — the doors had still a 
tremulous motion. The edition of the Gospel must 
be announced- as printed at the expense of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society" 



TO THE REV. D. CORRIE. 

"Bankipore, JwieZS, 180S. 

"I groan at the wickedness and infidelity of men, 
and seem to stretch my neck every way to espy a 
righteous man. All at Dinapore treat the Gospel 
with contempt: here there is nothing but infidelity. 
I am but just arrived, and am grieved to find in my 
old friend * # * less proofs of real acquaintance with 
the Gospel than I used to hope. On my way here 
I called on Col. * * *, and advised him to marry or 
separate — the constant alternative 1 am ever in- 
sisting on. As soon as I arrived, Mr. * # # in- 
formed me that the reason why no one came to 
hear me was, that I preached faith without works. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 29 1 

and that little sins are as bad as great ones, and that 
thus I tempted them to become great sinners. 
A young civilian, who some time ago came to me, 
desiring satisfaction on the evidences of Christianity, 
and to whom I spoke very freely, and with some 
regard, as I could not doubt his sincerity, now holds 
me up to ridicule. Thus, through evil report, we 
o-o on. O, my brother! how happy I feel, that all 
have not forsaken Christ; that I am not left alone, 
even in India. 'Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he 
shall sustain thee,' is the text I carry about with 
me, and I can recommend it to any body as an infalli- 
ble preservative from the fever of anxiety. 



TO THE SAME. 



i: June 20, 1808. 

<% The day after I wrote to you from Bankipore, I 
called on the Nawaub, Babir Ali Khan, celebrated 
for his sense and liberality. I staid two hours with 
him, conversing in Persian, but badly. He began 
the theological discussion, with requesting me to ex- 
plain necessity and free will: I instantly pleaded: 
ignorance. He gave his own opinion; on which I 
asked him his proofs of the religion of Mahomet. 
His first argument was the eloquence of the Koran, 
but he at last acknowledged it was insufficient. I 
then brought forward a passage or two in the Ko- 
ran, containing sentiments manifestly false and fool- 



292 MEMOIR OF 

ish: he flourished a good deal, but concluded by say- 
ing, that I must wait till I could speak Persian bet- 
ter, and had read their logic. His whole manner, 
look, authority, and copiousness, reminded me con- 
stantly of &i. # * *. This was the first visit, and I 
returned highly delighted with his sense, candor, and 
politeness. Two days after, I went to breakfast 
with him, and conversed with him in Hindoostanee. 
He inquired what were the principles of the Chris- 
tian Religion: I began with the Atonement, the Di- 
vinity of Christ, the corruption of human nature, 
the necessity of regeneration, and a holy life. He 
seems to wish to acquire information, but discovers 
no spiritual desire after the truth. So much for the 
Mussulman Lord: now for Antichrist in another 
shape, the Popish Padre, Julius Caesar. I asked 
him, whether the doctrine I had heard from his 
Franciscan brethren in America was his — Extra 
Ecclesiam Romanam salus non esse potest:* he said it 
was a question on which disputations were held con- 
stantly at Rome. By some means we got upon the 
additions made to the Commandments by the Church 
of Rome: he said, Christianity without Councils, 
was a city without walls, and that Luther, Calvin, 
&c. had made additions; all which I denied, and 
shewed him the last verses in the Revelation. Upon 
the whole, our conversation seemed to be without 
benefit." 

* There can be no salvation without the limits of the Romish Churofe 



KEY. HENRY MARTYR. 293 



TO THE REV. D. BROWN. 

"July 2, 1868. 

•My work is very delightful in itself,but it is doubly 
so by securing me so much of your correspondence. 
My eyes seize your beloved hand writing with 
more eagerness than if the letter were from Eu- 
rope. I rejoice with you, and praise God for one 
Gospel in Persian. With elegance enough to attract 
the careless and please the fastidious, it contains 
enough of eternal life to save the reader's soul; 
therefore, if we do no more, we may be happy that 
something is done. We are safe with the Hbdoos- 
tanee: it wants but little correction, and, in case of 
my death, could be easily prepared by any one. I 
am anxious to hear of the new plans you are about 
to propose to me: let them not be in the way of 
recreation: my only exertion, and that through indo- 
lence is small, is to keep my heart rightly disposed 
to minister to my congregation at night. I shrink 
from the idea of Sanscrit; the two or three months 
I spent in striving to penetrate its unwieldy gram- 
mar were more painful to me than any since the 
sorrowful days when I first began to learn Greek." 



TO THE REV. D. CORRIE. 

"Ju 7 u 4, 1S03. 

"I have received no letter from you this week, 
When Sunday came, and no letter arrived from you, 



294 



MEMOIR OF 



I began to entertain the romantic notion that per- 
haps my brother himself would come and preach 
for me at night. I am now on rny way to Patna by 
water. The Italian Padre came to Dinapore again 
on Saturday, but did not call upon me: the men 
sent him a letter, to which he replied in French, 
that he lamented he could not speak their language, 
but should remember them in his prayers, and spoke 
of them as brethren in Christ. When he came 
into the barracks, the Catholics crowded about him 
by hundreds, and in a tone of triumph pointed out 
his dress (that of a Franciscan friar) to the Protes- 
tants, contrasting it with that of a Clergyman of 
the Church of England, booted and spirred, and 
ready for a hunt. The Catholics in this regiment 
amount to a full thousand — the Protestants are 
scarcely discernible. Who would think that we 
should have to combat Antichrist again at this day? 
I feel my spirit roused to preach against Popery 
with all the zeal of Luther. Plow small and unim- 
portant the hair-splitting disputes of the blessed 
people at home, compared with the formidable 
agents of the Devil which we have to combat here! 
There are four casts of people in India: the first, 
Heathen; the second, Mahometans; the third, Pa- 
pists; the fourth, Infidels. Now I trust that you 
and I are sent to fight this four-faced Devil, and by 
the help of the Lord Jesus, whom we serve, we will. 
I was rather apprehensive that yesterday my female 
hearers would have forsaken me, but they came as 



REV. HENRY MARTYX. 295 

usual, and the words, 'Search the Scriptures,' occur- 
ring in the chapter of the day, I took occasion to 
point out to them the wickedness of the Church of 
Rome, in forbidding the use of the Scriptures." 



TO THE SAME. 

"July 11, 1808. 

"A loquacious Brahmin having interrupted us in 
our work, I leave him to Sahat, and turn my 
thoughts with more pleasure Chunar-ward. My 
last letter left me at Patna. The Catholic Padre, 
Julius Ccesar, had gone to Dinapore that very day, 
to say mass; but at Babir Ali's I met with a very 
agreeable Armenian Padre, named Martin, who 
kept my tongue employed nearly the whole of the 
day. I tried him once or twice in spiritual things, 
but there he had nothing to say. His dress was 
a black little cassock, exactly such as we wear, or 
ought to wear: the top of his head was shaved, 
like the Franciscans. I am almost ashamed of my 
secular appearance before these very venerable 
and appropriate figures. — The Catholics in the 
regiment are a thousand strong, and disposed to 
be malicious; they respect me, however, and can- 
not help thinking that I have been taught by 
Roman Catholics, or have been in some way con- 
nected with them: at the hospital the greater 
number keep themselves aloof. My Society this 
week has occasioned me great trouble; one man 



296 MEMOIR OF 

was the occasion of it: still his professions, and 
earnestness not to be excluded, make it difficult to 
know how to deal with him. Certainly there is in- 
finitely better discipline in the Romish Church than 
in ours, and if ever I be the pastor of native Chris- 
tians, I should endeavor to govern with equal strict- 
ness. My female hearers do not give me half such 
encouragement as yours, probably because I do not 
take such pains with them; yet there is no trouble 
I would spare, if I knew how to reach their minds. 
They were only fourteen yesterday. I spoke to 
them on the text, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? 
thou hast the words 6f Eternal Life.' To whom 
shall we go?— To the Padre — to the Virgin Mary 
- — to the Saints — to the world — to works — to re- 
pentance? No: to Christ." 



TO THE SAME. 

"/wty 18, 1803. 

"I mentioned to you, that I had spoken \ery 
plainly to the women last Sunday, on the delusions 
of the Papists: yesterday none but seven came. I 
had ascribed it to what I had said; but to-day Sabat 
tells me they pour contempt upon it all. Sabat, in- 
stead of comforting and encouraging me in my dis- 
appointments and trials, aggravates my pain by 
contemptuous expressions of the perfect inutility of 
continuing to teach them. He may spare his sar- 
castic remarks, as I suppose that after another Sun- 



REV. *HENRY MARTYR. 297 

day none at all will come, I find no relief but in 
praj en to God I can tell all my griefs, and find 
comfort. Last Tuesday, the Padre, Julius Caesar, 
came and staid with me four hours. We argued 
with great vehemence: when I found he had noth- 
ing to say in defence of the adoration of the 
Virgin Mary and Saints, I solemnly charged him 
and his Church with the sin of idolatry; he started, 
and said, if I had uttered such a sentiment in Italy, 
I should have been burned. He certainly seems 
sincere, and at one time he lifted up his eyes and 
prayed that this man might not convert him, and 
that God would never suffer the Protestant religion 
to enter into Italy. His main argument against me 
was, the disorder and impiety prevalent amongst 
the Protestants whom he had an opportunity of 
observing in Geneva and Leghorn. This disputa- 
tion has brought us to be quite familiar in*6ur ac- 
quaintance; he looked over all my books, and found 
a French one, called, c The Crimes of the Popes,' 
which he desired to have, but recollected after- 
wards that his coadjutor might see it. I feel a 
regard for him: he is a serious, unassuming young 



TO THE SAME. 

"August 1, 1S08. 



"One day this week, on getting up in the morn- 
ing I was attacked with a verv serious illness. I 



298 WEr.ioiR or* 

thought I was leaving this world of sorrow, and, 
praised be the God of Grace, felt no fear. The 
rest of the day I was filled with sweet peace of 
mind, and had near access to God in prayer. What 
a debt of love and praise do we owe! Yesterday I 
attempted to examine the women who attended (in 
number about thirty) in Christian knowledge: they 
were very shy, and said they could say no prayers 
but in Portuguese. It appears, they were highly 
incensed, and went away, saying to Joseph, 'We 
know a great deal more than your Padre himself.' 
The services much weakened me after my late 
attack." 



TO THE SAME. 

fJugvnt 8, 180fc. 

"I called on the Commander-in-Chief here on 
Saturday morning, and was received very graciously. 
I told him that it was a duty we owed to God, as 
a nation, to erect Churches, and asked whether 
Lord Minto was disposed to go on with it; to which 
he replied in the affirmative. I enlarged on the 
shame I felt in disputes with the Popish Padre, as 
often as they threw out reflections on the utter dis- 
regard of the Protestants to religion. Julius, tho 
Padre, has been here twice this week, but staid 
only a very short time. He began with very great 
vehemence to assert the necessity of an infallible. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 299 

judge, in order to settle all disputes on religion, and 
mentioned how much he had been agitated by his 
last dispute with me: he could do nothing but walk 
about that night — vet looked up to God and became 
tranquil. The men are dying in the hospital fast, 
yet they would rather be sent to Patna for some 
holy oi!, than hear the word of eternal life. — Two 
or three of my evening hearers are in the hospital; 
one is prepared to die: blessed sight! The Persian 
of St. Mark is to be sent to-morrow, and five chap- 
ters of Luke corrected. There is no news from 
down the stream; but always glad tidings for us from 
the world above." 



TO THE SAME. 

"August 15, 1SG8. 

* ; G.lad am I that we are' likely to meet so soon: 
may it be in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel 
of Peace. Last week Mahomed Babir, the Mahom- 
ed an Lord, and Padre Martino, spent three days 
here. Little, I am sorry to say, has been done. 
Sabat did not appear to advantage: instead of speak- 
ing about the Gospel to Babir, he was reciting 
poetry, particularly his own, and seemed more anx- 
ious to gain admirers than converts. We did, how- 
ever, at last converse about religion; but Mahomed 
confessed himself an infidel, and required proof for 
the truth of any religion. Sabat was not prepared 



300 MEMOIR OF 

for this, so I attempted to speak with Babir upon 
the nature of probable evidence, but he did not un- 
derstand me: so (his came to nothing. One day we 
sat down to dinner before Sabat came, and to our 
great astonishment he rebuked us with much wrath 
and pride. With all Babir's gentleness, he rebuked 
him in his turn, and told him that the Persians and 
English knew how to behave, but the Arabs did not. 
Babir was so lavish in his compliments to us all, that 
it is difficult to get at the truth of his real sentiments; 
but he praised Sabat's Persian translation to the 
stars, which I was glad to hear. As for the poor 
Padre, with an exterior so imposing, that you would 
think St. Peter was present, he knows nothing at all. 
I tried him on spiritual things again and again — but 
he could say nothing. Alas! how fallen from what 
their fathers were! When shall the Churches of 
Asia recover their ancient glory? You will see the 
Nabob and Padre soon I hope. Last Tuesday we 
sent off the Persian of St. Mark." 



TO THE REV. D. BROWN. 

September 9, 1808. 

"Corrie is here, and likely to remain, to my joy: 
you will have some happy hours together, I doubt 
not. With all your cares and trials, you claim all the 
consolations we can give, and you shall have more 
than that, if w r e can obtain any thing for you by our 



REV. HENRY MARTYS. 301 

prayers. Corrie will bring you but a poor account 
of my congregation: I am much neglected on all 
sides, and without the work of translation I should 
fear my presence in India were useless." 



TO HIS SISTER. 

"October, 1808. 

-"I deserve your reproof for not having written to 
you oftener, and am pained at the anxiety I have 
thoughtlessly occasioned you. I console myself, 
however, with reflecting that a letter must have 
reached you a few weeks after you sent your last. I 
am sorry that I have not good accounts to give of 
my health; yet no danger is to be apprehended. 
My services on the Lord's Day leave me always 
with a pain in. the breast, and such a great degree 
of general relaxation, that I seldom recover it till 
Tuesday. A few days ago I was attacked with a 
fever, which, by the mercy of God, lasted but two 
days. I am now well, but must be more careful for 
the future. In this debilitating climate the mortal 
tabernacle is frail indeed: my mind seems as vigor- 
ous as ever, but my delicate frame calls soon for re- 
laxation, and I must give it, though unwillingly; for 
such glorious fields for exertion open all around, that 
I could with pleasure be employed from morning to 
night. It seems a providential circumstance, that 
the work assigned me for the present is that of 
26 



302 MEMOIR OF 

translation; for had I gone through the villages 
preaching, as my inclination led me to do, I fear by 
this time I should have been in a deep decline. In 
my last I gave you a general idea of my employ- 
ments. The Society still meet every night at my 
quarters, and though we have lost many by death, 
others are raised up in their room; one officer, a 
Lieutenant, is also given to me, and he is not only a 
brother beloved, but a constant companion and nurse; 
so you must feel no apprehension that I should be 
left alone in sickness; neither on any other account 
should you be uneasy. You know that we must 
meet no more in this life: therefore since, as I trust, 
we are both the children of God, by faith in Christ 
Jesus, it becomes a matter of less consequence when 
we leave this earth. Of the spread of the Gospel 
in India I can say little, because I hear nothing. 
Adieu, my dearest sister: let us lrve in constant 
prayer for ourselves and the Church." 



TO THE REV. D. CORRIE. 

October 19, 1808. 

"Lhave just come out of my Chapel, where, with 
my little flock, I have once more resumed my duties. 
The infrequency of my appearance among them of 
late has thinned them considerably, and this effect, 
which I foresaw, is one of the most painful and la- 
mentable consequences of my withdrawing from 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 303 

them; but it is unavoidable, if I wish to prolong my 
life. My danger is from the lungs; though none of 
you seem to apprehend it. One complete service at 
church does more to consume my strength and 
spirits than six days of the hardest study or bodily 
labor. Pray for me, my dear brother, that I may 
neither be rash nor indolent." 



TO THE REV. D. CORRIE. 

"October 24, 1808. 

"Yott mention a letter inclosed, but none came. 
The intelligence, however, intended to be conveyed 
by it, met my delighted eyes. Thomason too coming! 
This is good. Praise be to the Lord of the harvest 
for sending out laborers! Behold how the prayers 
of the Society at Calcutta have been heard. I hope 
they will continue their supplications, for we want 
more yet, and it may please God yet further to 
bless us. You cannot leave Calcutta by the middle 
of November, and must therefore apply for one 
month's extension of leave. But you are unwilling 
to leave your flock, and I do not wonder, as I see 
my sheep dispersed grievously during my absence-. 
Uncertain when I may come amongst them, they 
seldom come at all, except ten or twelve who meet 
one another. My morning congregation increases as 
the cold weather advances, and yesterday there 
seemed to be a considerable impression I spoke in 



304 JWEMOIR OF 

a low tone of voice, and therefore did not feel much 
fatigue; but after the Hindoostanee service I was 
very weak, but at night tolerably strong again. On 
the whole, my expectations of life return. May th£ 
days thus prolonged be entirely His who continues 
them! and may my work not only move on delight- 
fully, but with a more devout and serious spirit! You 
are too many happy brethren together for me to 
mention all; suffice it to say, that my heart is with 
you, and daily prays for blessings upon you all.' 5 



The early part of the year 1809 produced no vari- 
ation in the life of Mr. Martyn, until the month of 
April, when he was removed from his station at 
Dinapore to Cawnpore. The following extracts are 
selected from the continuation of his correspondence 
with Mr. Corrie, in the interval that passed be- 
tween the end of the year 1808 and the termination 
of his ministry at Dinapore. 



TO TH^ REV. D. CORRIE. 

"January 10, 1809. 

;; Your letter from Buxar found me in much the 
same spiritual state as you describe yourself to be 
in; though your description, no doubt, belongs more 
properly to me. I no longer hesitate to ascribe 
my stupor and formality to its right cause — un- 
watchfulncss in worldly company. I thought that 



REV. IIEXRY .M ARTY^. 305 

any temptation arising from the society of the peo- 
ple of the world, at least of such as we have had, 
not worthy of notice: but I find myself mistaken. 
The late frequent occasions of being among them 
have proved a snare to my corrupt heart. Instead 
of returning with a more elastic spring to severe 
duties, as I expected, my heart wants more idleness, 
more dissipation. David Brainerd in the wilder- 
ness — what a contrast to Henry Martyn! But God 
be thanked that a start now and then interrupts the 
slumber. I hope to be up and about my Master's 
business; to cast off the works of darkness, and to 
be spiritually minded, which alone is life and peace. 
But what a dangerous countrv it is we are in; hot 
weather or cold, all is softness and luxury; all a con- 
spiracy to lull us to sleep in the lap of pleasure. 
While we pass over this enchanted ground, call, 
brother, ever and anon, and ask, 'is all well?' We 
are shepherds keeping watch over our flocks by 
night: if ice fall asleep, what is to become of 
them!'' 



"January 30, 1809. — "I have been seized with a 
sudden desire for reading Hebrew, chiefly from a 
wish of seeing language in its simplest and purest 
.state. It is my belief that language is from God; 
and therefore, as in his other works, so in this, the 
principles must be extremely simple. My present 
labor is to find a reason for there being but two 
*26 



306 MEMOIR OF 

tenses in Hebrew. I have read, or rather devour- 
ed, the four first chapters in the Hebrew Bible, iit 
order to account for the apparently strange use of 
these two tenses, and am making hypotheses every 
moment, when I walk, and when I wake in the 
night. One thing I have found, that there are but 
two tenses in English and Persian. I will go: — in 
that sentence the principal verb is / will, which is 
the present tense. I would have- gone: — the princi- 
pal verb, is, / would, or / icilled. Should, also, is a 
preterite, namely, shcdled from to shall. Another 
thing I observe is, that both in Persian and English 
the preterite is formed in the same way, viz. by the 
addition of ed; porsum, porsedum — ask, asked. I 
should not wonder if in the Saxon, or some other 
ancient northern language from which the English 
comes, it is askedum. Thus you have a letter of 
philology. If I make any other great discoveries, 
and have nothing better to write about, I shall 
take the liberty of communicating them. Scire 
iuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter:* — but 
this, I trust, is not my maxim; i Whatsoever ye do, do 
all to the glory of God,' 9 is much better." 



"February 13, 1809.— Last Friday we had the 
happiness and honor of finishing the four Gospels in 
Persian. The same evening I made some discovery 

* To possess knowledge yourself is nothing, unless some other perron 
te made acquainted with your knowledge. 



REV. HENRY MARTY.Y, 307 

respecting the Hebrew verb, but was unfortunately 
so much delighted, that I could not sleep; in conse- 
quence of which I have had a head-ache ever since. 
Thus even intellectual joys are followed by sorrow: 
not so spiritual. I pray continually that order may 
be preserved in my heart; that I may esteem and 
delight most in that work, which is really most esti- 
mable and delightful — the work of Christ and the 
Apostles. When this is in any measure the case, it 
is surprising how clear and orderly the thoughts are 
on other subjects. I am still a good deal in the dark, 
respecting the object of my pursuit, but have so 
much in sight, that I read both Hebrew and Arabic 
with increasing pleasure and satisfaction." 



"February 20, 1809. — Your attack proves the 
necessity of diminishing your Sabbath services. I 
scarcely know how this week has passed, nor can I 
call to mind the circumstances of one single day — so 
absorbed have I been in my new pursuit. I remem- 
ber, however, that one night I did not sleep a wink. 
Knowing what would be the consequences the next 
day, I struggled hard, and turned every way, that 
my mind might be diverted from what was before it 
— but all in vain. One discovery succeeded another, 
in Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek, so rapidly, that I 
was sometimes almost in an ecstacy. But after all, 
I have moved but a step: you may scold me, if you 
please — but I am helpless. I do not turn to this 



303 MEMOIR OP 

study of myself, but it turns to ^:e, and draws me 
away, almost irresistibly. Still I perceive it to be a 
mark of a fallen nature to be so carried away by a 
pleasure merely intellectual; and, therefore, while I 
pray for the gifts of his Spirit, I feel the necessity of 
being earnest for his Grace. 'Whether there be 
tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowl- 
edge it shall vanish away;' — -but 'Charity never fail- 
eth.' Yesterday my mind was mercifully kept free 
the whole day, and I ministered without distraction, 
and moreover, without fatigue. I do not know 
"when I have found myself so strong. — The state of 
the air affects me more than any thing else. Satur- 
day I completed my twenty-eighth year. Shall I 
live to see another birth-day: — it will be better to 
suppose not. I have not read Faber yet; but it 
seems evident to me, that the 1 1th of Daniel, almost 
the whole of it, refers to future time. But as the 
time of accomplishing the Scriptures draws on, 
knowledge shall increase. In solemn expectation 
we must wait to see how our God will come. How 
deeply interesting are his doings! We feel already 
some of that rapture wherewith they sing above, 
c Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord God 
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of 
Saints." 



'''March 3, 1809. I did not write to you last week, 
because I was employed night and day, on Moi>- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN> 309 

day and Tuesday, with Sahat, in correcting some 
sheets for the press. I begin my letter now, im- 
mediately on receiving yours of last week. The 
account of your complaint, as you may suppose, 
grieves me exceedingly; not because I think I shall 
outlive you, but because your useful labors must 
be reduced to one quarter, and that you may be 
obliged, perhaps, to take a voyage to Europe, which 
is loss of time and money. But, O brother beloved^ 
what is life or death? Nothing to the believer in 
Jesus. 'He that believetb, though he were dead, 
•yet shall he live; and he that liveth, and believetb 
in me, shall never die.' The first and natural ef- 
fect of sickness, as I have often found, is to cloud, 
and terrify the mind. The attention of the soul is 
arrested by the idea of soon appearing in a new 
world; and a sense of guilt is felt, before faith is 
exercised in a Redeemer; and, for a time, it will 
predominate; for the same faith that would over- 
come fear in health, must be considerably strength- 
ened to have the same effect in sickness. I trust 
you will long live to do the work of your Lord 
Jesus. My discoveries are all at an end. I am just 
where I was — in perfect darkness, and tired of the 
pursuit. It is, however, likely that I shall be con- 
stantly speculating on the subject. My thirst after 
knowledge is very strong, but I pray continually 
that the Spirit of God may hold the reins, that I 
may mind the work of God above all things, and 
idcr all things else as merely occasional/' 



310 MEMOIR OF 

"March IS, 1809. How delightful is it to me, at 
this moment, to commune with a dear brother, who 
'is not of the world, as the Lord was not of the 
world. 5 I am just come from the mess of the ***. 
This morning the regiment was reviewed, and I,* 
among the Staff, was invited to a public dejeune 
and dinner. As I had no pretence for not going, I 
went. Yesterday our new place of worship was 
opened. It is a room eighty-one feet long, with a 
veranda very large. It will be a very noble church; 
but, I fear, will diminish somewhat of my strength. 
My text was, 'In all places where I record my 
name, I will come unto thee and bless thee.' O may 
the promise be fulfilled to us!" 



At Cawnpore, the hand of friendship and hospi- 
tality was stretched out, to welcome Mr. Marty n, 
and to afford him those attentions, after a wearisome 
and perilous journey, which were not only most 
gratifying to his feelings, but almost indispensible to 
the preservation of his life. From the pen of the 
ladyt of that friend who then received him — a pen 
which has been often and happily employed in the 
sacred cause for which Mr. Martyn lived and labor- 
ed — we have the following account of his arrival at 
the new station to which he was appointed. ''The 
month of April, in the upper provinces of Hindoos- 

• Mr. Martyn was Military Chaplain-. t Mrs " SlierwoeA. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 311 

tan, is one of the most dreadful months for travelling 
throughout the year; indeed, no European, at that 
time, can remove from place to place, but at the 
hazard of his life. But Mr. Martyn had that anx- 
iety to be at the work which his heavenly Father 
had given him to do, that, notwithstanding the vio- 
lent heat, he travelled from Chunar to Cawnpore, 
the space of about four hundred miles. At that 
time, I well remember, the air was as hot and dry 
as that which I have sometimes felt near the mouth 
of a large, oven — no friendly cloud or verdant carpet 
of grass, to relieve the eye from the strong glare of 
the rays of the sun, pouring on the sandy plains of 
the Ganges. Thus Mr. Martyn travelled, journey- 
ing night and day, and arrived at Cawnpore, in such 
a state, that he fainted away as soon as he entered 
the house. When we charged him with the rash- 
ness of hazarding in this manner his life, he always 
pleaded his anxiety to get to the great work. He 
remained with us ten days, suffering at times con- 
siderably from fever and pain in his chest." 

Mr. Martyn's own account of this dreadful and 
most distressing journey, is thus briefly detailed to 
Mr. Corrie. 



"Cawnpore, May 1, 1809. The entrance to this 
place is through plains of immeasurable extent, cov- 
ered with burning sand. The place itself I have 



312 MEMOIR OF 

not yet been able to see, nor shall, I suppose, till 
the rains: at present it is involved in a thick cloud 
of dust. So much for exordium. — Let me take up 
my narrative from Mirzapore, where I wrote you a 
note. I reached Tarra about noon. Next day, at 
noon, reached Allahabad, and was hospitably re- 
ceived by Mr. G.; at night dined with him at the 
Judge's, and met twenty-six people. From Allaha- 
bad to Cawnpore how shall I describe what I suf- 
fered! Two days and two nights was I travelling 
"without intermission. Expecting to arrive early on 
Saturday morning, I took no provision for that day. 
Thus I lay in my palanquin faint, with a head-ache, 
neither awake nor asleep, between dead and alive — 
the wind blowing flames. The bearers were so 
unable to bear up, that we were six hours coming 
the last six kos (twelve miles.) However, with all 
this frightful description, I was brought in mercy 
through. It was too late on Saturday to think of 
giving notice of my arrival, that we might have ser- 
vice; indeed I was myself too weak; Even now the 
motion of the palanquin is not out of my brain, nor 
the heat out of mv blood." 



Mr. Martyn's removal from Dinapore to Cawn- 
pore, w T as to him, in many respects, a very unpleas- 
ant arrangement. He was several hundred miles 
farther distant frcm Calcutta, and was far more 
widely separated, than before, from his friend Mr. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 313 

Corrie: he had new acquaintances to form at his 
new abode; and, after having with much difficulty 
procured the erection of a Church at Dinapore, he 
was transported to a spot where none of the con- 
veniences, much less the decencies and solemnities 
of public worship, were visible. We find him, soon 
after he arrived there, preaching to a thousand sol- 
diers, drawn up in a hollow square, when the heat 
was so great, although the sun had not risen, that 
many actually dropped down, unable to support it. 
What must such services as these have been to a 
minister, too faithful and zealous to seek refuge in 
indolent formality, and already weakened in health 
by former ministrations. He complained, if indeed 
he may be ever said to complain, of an attack of 
fever soon after the commencement of these servi- 
ces; and there can be little doubt but that they con- 
tributed very materially to undermine his constitu- 
tion. No time, indeed, was lost by him on this oc- 
casion, as before, in remonstrating upon this subject, 
and his remonstrance procured a promise that a 
Church should be built This expectation, however, 
was not fulfilled until his health was too much shak- 
en to profit by its accomplishment. 

At Cawnpore, Mr. Martyn's ministerial duties va- 
ried little from those which had occupied him at 
Pinapore. Prayers and a sermon with the regiment 
at the dawn of the morning; the same service at the 
house of the General of the station, at eleven o'clock; 
attendance at the hospital; and in the evening, that 
27 



314 MEMOIR OF 

part of his work which was the most grateful and 
refreshing to his spirit, though performed under the 
pressure of much bodily fatigue— an exposition to 
the more devout part of his flock, with prayer and 
thanksgiving, made up the ordinary portion of his 
labors. 

That love of philology, in which he fondly hoped 
to effect discoveries, conducive to the elucidation of 
difficulties in the Scriptures, followed him from Di- 
napore to his new residence, and so haunted his mind, 
that, whether at home or abroad, whether by day 
or by night, he could not divest himself of it. For 
many successive days did he intensely pursue this 
study, and for many sleepless nights did the study 
pursue him. At length he thought he had ascer- 
tained the meaning of almost all the Hebrew let- 
ters; by degrees, however, he became less ardent 
in these inquiries, either from questioning the truth 
of those axioms which he had laid down, or from 
finding their inutility after he had established them. 

These abstruse speculations, together with duties 
of a more important character, (one of the chief of 
which was the superintendance of an Arabic trans- 
lation of the New Testament, now begun and carri- 
ed on conjointly with a new Persian version,) were 
soon interrupted, and for a time suspended, by a 
summons he received to Lucknow, for the purpose 
of celebrating a marriage, and by a similar call to 
Pretabjush. Concerning the latter he thus writes 
to Mr. Simeon, lamenting the inconvenience to which 



REV. HENRY JtfARTYN. 3 15 

he was exposed by such distant demands upon his 
services. "Just after the last ship from Europe ar- 
rived, and I was hourly expecting my letters, I was 
summoned to a distant station, to marry a couple, and 
did not return till three weeks after. It was a great 
disappointment to be thus suddenly sent to roam 
amongst jungles and jackalls, when I was feasting 
my fancy with delightful letters from my friends at 
home — though Europe is no longer my home. How- 
ever, my mind was soon reconciled to it, and I was 
often able to recite, with some sense of their sweet- 
ness, Mr. Newton's beautiful lines, 

♦In desert tracts, with Thee, my God, 
How happy could I be.' 

"The place to which I was called is Pretabjush, 
in the territory of Oude, which is still under the 
government of the Nabob. Oppression and inse- 
curity of property seem to have stripped the coun- 
try of its inhabitants. From Manicpore, where I 
left the river, to Pretabjush, a distance of fifty 
miles, I saw but two or three miserable villages, 
and no agriculture. The road was nothing more 
than a winding footpath, through a continued wood, 
and that, in consequence of the rains, was often 
lost. Indeed, all the low lands were under water, 
which, added to the circumstance of travelling 
by night, made the journey by no means a pleas- 
ant one. Being detained one Lord's day at the 
place, I assembled all the officers and company, 
at the commanding officer's bungalow, and pre.ach- 



316 MEMOIR OF 

ed the Gospel to them. There were five and 
thirty officers, besides ladies, and other Europeans. 
You will have an idea of the Nabob's country, 
when you are informed that, last September, a 
young officer, going from his station to Lucknow, 
w r as stopped by robbers, and literally cut to pieces 
in his palanquin. Since that time, the Nabob has 
requested that every English gentleman, wishing 
to visit his capital, may give notice of his intention 
to the Resident, in order that a guard may be sent. 
Accordingly, a few months ago, when I had occa- 
sion to go to Lucknow, I had a guard of four troop- 
ers, armed with matchlocks and spears. I thought 
of Nehemiah, but was far too inferior to him in cour- 
age and faith, not to contemplate the fierce counte- 
nances of my satellites with great satisfaction." 

Not long after Mr. Marty n's return from this ex- 
pedition, letters from Europe reached Cawnpore, 
fraught with intelligence of a similar nature with 
that which had overwhelmed him in the preceding 
year. They contained intimations of the dangerous 
illness of that sister who had been so instrumental in 
his conversion to the Lord; and they were but too 
quickly followed by an account of her death. "O 
my dearest # # # , (he began to write to his sister, with 
a faint hope, at first, of the possibility of her receiv- 
ing his letter,) that disease which preyed upon our 
mother and dear sister, and has cften shewn itself in 
me, has, I fear, attacked you. Although I parted 
from you in the expectation of never seeing you in 



REV. HENRY MARTYX. 317 

this life, and though I know that you are, and have 

long been prepared to go, yet to lose my last near 

relation, my only sister, in nature and grace, is a 

dreadful stroke." "Dearest brother" (he continued 

to her husband, from whom he had, in the mean 

time, received a more alarming account,) "I can 

write no more to my sister. Even now something 

tells me I have been addressing one in the world of 

spirits. But yet it is possible that I may be mistaken. 

No — I dare not hope. Your loss is greater than 

mine, and therefore it would become me to offer 

consolation — but I cannot. I must wait till your 

next; and, in the mean time, I will continue to pray 

for you, that the God of ail consolation may comfort 

you, and make us both, from this time, live more as 

pilgrims and strangers upon the earth. In the first 

three years after leaving my native land, I have lost 

the three persons whom I most loved in it. — What 

is there now I should wish to live for? O what a 

barren desert, what a howling wilderness,>does this 

world appear. But for the service of God in his 

Church, and the preparation of my own soul, I do 

not know that I would wish to live another day." 

With a grateful tenderness, also, in the midst of this 

affliction, he thus addressed Mr. Simeon: — "My ever 

dear friend and brother — I address you by your true 

title, for you are a friend and brother, and more than 

a brother to me. Your letter, though it contains 

much afflictive intelligence, contains in it also much 

that demands my gratitude. In the midst of judg* 
#27 



318 



MEMOIR OF 



ment, he remembers mercy. He has been pleased 
to take away my last remaining sister; (for I have no 
hopes of my poor # # *'s recovery;) he has reduced 
the rest of my family, but he has raised up a friend 
for me and mine. Tears of gratitude mingle with 
those of sorrow, whilst I think of the mercy of God, 
and the goodness of you, his instrument." 

The close of the year 1809 was distinguished by 
the commencement of Mr. Martyn's first public min- 
istration among the Heathen. A crowd of mendi- 
cants, whom, to prevent perpetual interruptions, he 
had appointed to meet on a stated day, for the dis- 
tribution of alms, frequently assembled before his 
house in immense numbers, presenting an affecting 
spectacle of extreme wretchedness. .To this congre- 
gation he determined to preach the word of the 
Savior of all men, who is no respecter of persons. 
Of his first attempt at this new species of min- 
istration, he thus speaks: — "I told them (after re- 
questing their attention) that I gave with pleasure 
the alms I could afford, but wished to give them 
something better, namely, eternal riches, or the 
knowledge of God, which was to be had from God's 
w 7 ord; and then, producing a Hindoostanee transla- 
tion of Genesis, read the first verse, and explained it 
word by word. In the beginning, when there was 
nothing, no heaven, no earth, but only God, he cre- 
ated without help, for his own pleasure. — But who 
is God? One so great, so good, so wise, so mighty, 
ihat none can know him as he ought to know: but 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 319 

yet we must know that he knows us. When we 
rise up, or sit down, or go out, he is always with 
us. — He created heaven and earth; therefore ev- 
ery thing in heaven, sun, moon, and stars. There- 
fore how should the sun be God, or moon be God? 
Every thing on earth, therefore Ganges also — there- 
fore how should Ganges be God? Neither are they 
like God. — If a shoemaker make a pair of shoes, 
are the shoes like him? If a man make an image, 
the image is not like man his maker. Infer secondly: 
if God made the heaven and earth for vou, and 
made the meat also for you, will he not also feed 
you? Know also, that he that made heaven and 
earth, can destroy them — and will do it; therefore 
fear God who is so great, and love God who is so 
good." Such was the substance of his first dis- 
course, the whole of which was preached sentence 
by sentence, for at the end of each clause there 
were applauses and explanatory remarks from the 
wiser among them. "I bless my God," said Mr. 
Marty n, "for helping me beyond my expectations. 
Yet still my corrupt heart looks forward to the 
next attempt with some dread." 

The following Sunday he preached again fo the 
beggars; in number about five hundred, on the work 
of the first and second day, when all he said was 
received with great applause. And on the last day 
of the year, he again addressed them, their numbers 
amounting to about five hundred and fifty; taking for 
his subject — the works of the third and fourth day. 



320 MEMOIR OP 

"I did not," he remarks, "succeed so well as be- 
fore: I suppose because I fiad more confidence in 
myself, and less in the Lord. I fear they did not 
understand me well; but the few sentences that 
were clear, they applauded. Speaking to them of 
the sea and rivers, I spoke to them again of the 
Ganges, that it was no more than other rivers. 
God loved the Hindoos — but he loved other peo- 
ple too; and whatever river, or water, or other 
good thing, he gave Hindoos, he gave other peo- 
ple also: for all are alike before God. Ganges, 
therefore, is not to be worshipped; because, so far 
from being a God, it is not better than other rivers. 
In speaking of the earth and moon, as a candle in 
the house, so is the sun," I said, "in the heavens. 
But would I worship a candle in my hand? These 
were nice points: I felt as if treading on tender 
ground, and was almost disposed to blame myself 
for imprudence. I thought that, amidst the silence 
these remarks produced, I heard hisses and groans 
-^-but a few Mahometans applauded." 

With these new labors of love the year 1809 
terminated. "Ten years have elapsed," observed 
Mr. Martyn on the last day of it, "since I was first 
called of God to the fellowship of the Gospel, and 
ten times greater than ever ought to be my grati- 
tude to the tender mercy of my God, for all that he 
has done for me. The ways of wisdom appear 
more sweet and reasonable than ever, and the world 
more insipid and vexatious. The chief thing I. have 



REV. HENRY MARTY J*. "321 

to mourn over, is my want of more power and fervor 
in secret prayer, especially when attempting to 
plead for the Heathen. Warmth does not increase 
with me in proportion to my light." 

-To the temporal and spiritual necessities of those 
wretched beings, who statedly assembled before his 
house, Mr. Martyn continued to minister assiduously 
in the early part of the year 1810, nor did he cease 
to do so, w 7 hilst his health permitted, during the re- 
mainder of his residence at Cawnpore. The satis- 
faction of seeing their numbers increase, (sometimes 
they amounted to as many as eight hundred persons,) 
was exceeded by the more solid gratification of 
witnessing in them a growing attention to the in- 
structions he delivered. By degrees tumultuous 
applauses w r ere succeeded by pertinent remarks, or 
were lost in a serious and pensive silence. On one 
occasion, particularly, the apparent effect produced 
by his discourse was highly encouraging. An extra- 
ordinary impression w r as made on his Mahometan and 
Pagan auditory, whom he had been addressing on 
the awful subject of the destruction of Sodom and 
Gomorrah, with equal simplicity and solemnity. 
"After finishing," he observes, "the narrative of the 
fall of Sodom, I said, without further preparation, 
'Do you too repent of your sins, and turn to God?' 
It was this simple sentence that seemed to come 
with great power, and prevented my proceeding for 
a time. 'For though you are not like the men of 
Sodom — God forbid! vou are nevertheless sinners. 



322 MEMOIR OF 

Are there no thieves, fornicators, railers, extortion- 
ers, among you? Be you sure that God is angry, I 
say not that He will burn your town; but He will 
burn you. Haste, therefore, out of Sodom. Sodom 
is the world, which is full of sinners and sin. Come 
out, therefore, from amongst them: forsake not your 
worldly business, but your sinful companions. Do 
not be like the world, lest you perish with them. 
Do not, like Lot, linger; say not, to-morrow we 
w r ill repent, lest you never see to-morrow — repent 
to-day. Then, as Lot, seated on the hill, beheld the 
flames in safety, you also, sitting on the hills of 
heaven, shall behold the ruins of the world without 
fear.' " 

In the midst of these exertions, an attack of pain 
in the chest, of a severer kind than he had experi- 
enced before, forced upon Mr. Martyrrs mind the. 
unwelcome conviction of the necessity of some quiet 
and remission. 

Upon the subject of his health, (a subject which 
was becoming but too interesting and alarming to 
his friends in general,) he thus wrote to Mr. Simeon, 
who long before had warmly urged him to the most 
watchful care and prudence. "I read your letter of 
6th July, 1809, cautioning me against over exertion, 
with the confidence of one who had nothing to fear, 
This was only three weeks ago. Since the last 
Lord's day your kind advice was brought home to 
my mind, accompanied with painful regret that I 
had not paid more attention to it. My work last 



REV. HENRY 3VIARTYN. 323 

Sunday was not more than usual, but far too much 
for me, I can perceive. First, service to his Majes- 
ty's 53rd foot, in the open air; then at head-quarters; 
in the afternoon, preached to eight hundred natives; 
at night, to my little flock of Europeans. Which of 
these can I forego? The ministration to the natives 
might be in the week, but I wish to attach the idea 
of holiness to the Sunday. My evening congrega- 
tion, on Sunday, is attended by twice as many as in 
the week day: so how can I let this go?" 

With what extreme reluctance Mr. Marty n 
"spared himself," we see from the above letter. 
The progress of his complaint, however, compelled 
him to overcome this reluctance; and to the In- 
dian congregation, when they next assembled, he 
was obliged to declare, that his ill health prevented 
him from addressing them; upon which hundreds of 
voices were heard invoking for him long life and 
health; and when he dispensed his alms among 
them, their thankfulness seemed to know no bounds. 
Shortly after, however, he ventured to finish with 
these mendicants, the history of Joseph, upon which 
he had entered, and to resume also the whole of 
his duty on the Sabbath, with the exception of one 
service; and, notwithstanding his extreme caution on 
that point, he administered the rite of baptism to an 
old Hindoo woman, "who, though she knew but little, 
was (he said) lowliness itself." 

Whilst Mr. Martyn was thus laboring in the very 
fire, sometimes yielding to the pressure of his com- 



324 MEMOIR OP 

plaint, and affording himself a little ease and relaxa- 
tion; at others renewing it, either by private conver- 
sation or public services; providentially for the pres- 
ervation of the remnant of his health, in the begin- 
ning of June, his friend and brother, Mr. Corrie, 
arrived at Cawnpore, on his journey to his new sta- 
tion at Agra. This proved a most seasonable re- 
freshment and relief to Mr. Martyn, both in body 
and mind; for his friend, though himself in a weak 
state of health, by permission of the Commander- 
in-Chief, who shewed a kind consideration for Mr. 
Martyn in his drooping condition, undertook part of 
the duty, leaving to Mr. Martyn only the services of 
preaching to the Natives at noon, and to the soldiers 
in the evening, in the performance of which he per- 
suaded himself that he ought to persevere. 

How greatly his friends became alarmed at this 
juncture, will appear from the following animated 
and anxious letter from Mr. Brown: — "You will 
know, from our inestimable brother Corrie, my soli- 
citude about your health. If it could make you 
live longer, I would give up any child I have, and 
myself into the bargain.— May it please the adora- 
ble unsearchable Being with whom we have to do, 
to lengthen your span! — Amidst the dead and the 
dying, nothing can be more apparently prosperous 
for the Church of God, than the overvvhelmings now 
taking place in the earth. Christ will find his way 
to the hearts of men, and there will be a great com- 
pany to praise Him. I know not why we should 



REV. HENRY MARTY X. 325 

wish to be saved, but for this purpose; or why, but 
for this purpose, we should desire the conversion of 
Heathens, Turks, and Infidels. To find them at the 
feet of Jesus will be a lovely sight. Our feeble voi- 
ces cannot praise him much. We shall be glad to 
see them clapping their hands and casting their 
crowns before him: for all in heaven and earth can- 
not sufficiently praise him. I see no cause to wish 
for any thing but the advancement of that kingdom, 
by which there is some accession of praise to his 
holy and blessed name. We grasp and would wish 
to gather ail to Christ, but without him we can do 
nothing: he will gather to himself those that are 
his." 

From this time till the month of September, Mr. 
Martyn persisted in his ministration to the Natives, 
taking for the subject of several successive dis- 
courses, the Ten Commandments. On one of these 
occasions, he describes himself as speaking with 
great ease in his body and joy in his heart. "Bless- 
ed be God, (he says,) my strength is returning. O 
may I live to proclaim salvation through a Savior's 
blood." But this sunshine was soon overclouded; 
and shortly after he again relapsed. 

Such was the sinking state of his health, notwith- 
standing the seasonable and important assistance 
derived from the presence of Mr. Corrie, that a 
removal from Cawnpore, either to make trial of 
the effect of a sea voyage, or to return for a short 
time to England, became now a matter of urgent 
28 



326 MEMOIR OF 

necessity. The adoption of (he latter expedient 
he had once determined upon, conceiving that his 
complaint might arise from relaxation, and that a 
bracing air would, in that case, be beneficial. Nor 
was this resolution formed without a reluctant 
struggle in his mind; for strongly as his affections 
were drawn towards his native country, India had 
attractions for him of a more powerful, because of 
a more exalted kind. 

The precise period of his departure from Cawn- 
pore, as well as the place of his ultimate destination. 
were fixed by information received from Calcutta, 
concerning the Persian version of the New Testa- 
ment. 

The version which had been first made in that lan- 
guage, two Gospels of which had been printed, was 
considered, on further inspection and more mature 
consideration, to require too many amendments to 
admit of its immediate publication. It was accord- 
ingly returned to the translator, who, under the su- 
perintendance of Mr. Martyn, bestowed so much 
pains and attention upon it, as to render it a new, 
and, it was hoped, a sound and accurate work. By 
those, however, who were considered competent 
judges at Calcutta, it was still deemed unfit for gen- 
eral circulation, inasmuch at it was thought to abound 
with Arabic idioms, and to be written in a style, 
pleasing indeed to the learned, but not sufficiently 
level to the capacities of the mass of common read- 
ers. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 327 

At this decision, Mr. Martyn was as keenly dis- 
appointed, as he was delighted at the complete suc- 
cess of the Hindoostanee version, which, on the 
minutest and most rigorous revision, was pronounced 
to be idiomatic and plain. But meeting the disap- 
pointment with that spring and elasticity of mind, 
which is the result of lively faith, he instantly re- 
solved, after committing his way to God in prayer, 
and consulting his friends, Mr. Corrie and Mr. 
Brown, on the subject, to go into Arabia and Persia, 
for the purpose of collecting the opinions of learned 
Natives, with respect to the Persian translation, 
which had been rejected, as well as the Arabic 
version, which was yet incomplete, though nearly 
finished. 

Mr. Brown's reply, on this purpose, being commu* 
nicated to him, is too characteristic, both of him- 
self and Mr. Martyn, to be omitted. "But can I 
then (said he) bring myself to cut the string and let 
you go? I confess I could not, if your bodily frame 
was strong, and promised to last for half a century. 
But as you burn with the intenseness and rapid 
blaze of heated phosphorus, why should we not 
make the most of you? Your flame may last as 
long, and perhaps longer, in Arabia, than in India. 
Where should the phoenix build her odoriferous 
nest, but in the land prophetically called 'the bless- 
ed;' and where shall we ever expect, but from that 
country, the true comforter to come to the nations 
of the East, I contemplate your New Testament 



323 MEMOIR OF 

springing up, as it were, from dust and ashes, but 
beautiful as the wings of a dove covered with sil- 
ver, and her feathers like yellow gold." 

Towards the end of September, therefore, Mr. 
Martjn put himself in readiness to leave Cawnpore; 
and on his preaching, for the last time, to the na- 
tives, and giving them an account of the life, the 
miracles, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus, 
as well as a summary of his heavenly doctrine — ex- 
horting them to believe in him, and taking them to 
record that he had declared to them the glad 
tidings of the Gospel — it was but too apparent that 
they would never again hear those sounds of 
wisdom and mercy from his lips. On the open- 
ing of the new church, also, where he preach- 
ed to his own countrymen, amidst the happi- 
ness and thankfulness which abounded at seeing 
"a temple of God erected, and a door opened for 
the service of the Almighty, in a place where, from 
the foundation of the world, the tabernacle of the 
true God had never stood," a mournful foreboding 
could not be suppressed, that he, who had been the 
cause of its erection, and who now ministered in it 
for the first time, in the beauty of holiness, would 
minister there no more. They beheld him standing 
on the verge of the eternal world, and ready to 
take a splendid flight. "My father, my father, the 
chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof," were 
the sentiments with which many gazed on him. One 



REV. HENRY MARTYN* 329 

of his auditors* on this solemn occasion, describes, 
in the following words, the feelings of many others, 
in depicting her own: — "He began in a weak and 
faint voice, being at that time in a very bad state 
of health: but gathering strength as he proceeded, 
he seemed as one inspired from on high. Never 
was an audience more affected. The next day, this 
holy and heavenly man left Cawnpore, and the so- 
ciety of many who sincerely loved and admired him. 
He left us with little hope of seeing him again, 
until, by the mercy of our Savior, we meet with 
him in our Father's house." 

On the first day of October, the day following 
the delivery of this affecting discourse, after fer- 
vently uniting in prayer with his beloved friend and 
brother, Mr. Corrie, not again to meet him and 
worship with him, until separations shall cease for 
ever, and prayer shall be changed into endless hal- 
lelujahs, Mr. Martyn departed from Cawnpore, for 
Mr. Brown's residence, at Aldeen, which he safely 
reached on the evening of the last day of the 
month. In his voyage down the Ganges, nothing 
of particular moment occurred, except that he visit- 
ed the remains of his iioek of the 67th, at Gazee- 
pore, "where, (said he.) sad was the sight — many 
of the most hopeful were ashamed to look me in 
the face, and sorrow remained in the faces of 
those who had remained faithful.—- About nine of 

* Mrs. Sherwood. 

*2g 



330 MEMOIR OF 

these came to me in my boat, when we sung the 
hymn which begins, 'Come ye that love the Lord;' 
after which, I spoke to and prayed with them, earn- 
estly and affectionately, if ever I did in my life.*' 
This painful interview was succeeded by another, 
not uninteresting, with Antonio, a monk, at Bogli- 
pore. "We sat in the evening, (Mr. Martyn writes,) 
under a shed on the banks of the river, and began 
to dispute in Latin about the Church. He grew a 
little angry, and I do not know what might have 
been the end of it, but the church bell rang for 
vespers, and terminated the controversy. The 
church is in his garden; a very neat building, hung 
round with some little mean engravings. A light 
was burning in the chancel, and an image of the 
Virgin behind a curtain, as usual, over the table. 
Antonio did not fail to bow to the image; but he 
did it in a w 7 ay that shewed he w T as ashamed of him- 
self; at least so I thought. He read some passages 
from the Hindoostanee Gospels, which I was sur- 
prised to find so well done. I begged him to go on 
with the Epistles. He had translated also the 
Missal, equally well done. He shewed me the four 
Gospels in Persian, very poorly done. I rejoiced 
unfeignedly at seeing so much done, though he fol- 
loweth not with us. The Lord bless his labors; and 
while he watereth others, may he be watered him- 
self!" 

Restored, after an absence of four years, to an 
intercourse with his friends, who, on beholding his 



REV. HENRY MARTY X. 331 

pallid countenance and enfeebled frame, knew not 
whether to mourn most or to rejoice, Mr. Martyn 
partook largely of that pure and refined happiness, 
which is peculiar to one of his vivid feelings and 
heavenly affections, in that society where they that 
"fear the Lord speak often one to another, and the 
Lord hearkens and hears, and a bock of remem- 
brance is written before him for them that fear the 
Lord, and think upon his name." Malachi iii, 16. 
The following letter to Mr. Simeon expresses the 
heart-felt sentiments of one* of these friends, to 
whom India in general, and Calcutta in particular, 
stand so greatly indebted, after an interview che- 
quered alternately by the varying lights and shades 
of joy and distress. "This bright and lovely jewel 
first gratified our eyes on Saturday last. He is on 
his way to Arabia, where he is going in pursuit of 
health and knowledge. You know his genius: and 
what gigantic strides he takes in every thing. He 
has some great plan in his mind — of which I am no 
competent judge, but as far as I do understand it, 
the object is far too grand for one short life, and 
much beyond his feeble, exhausted frame. Feeble 
it is indeed! how fallen and changed! His complaint 
lies in his lungs: and appears to be a beginning con- 
sumption. But let us hope the sea air may revive 
him, and that change of place and pursuit may do 
him essential service, and continue his life many 
years. In all other respects he is exactly the same 

* The Rer. Mr. Thomasou. 



332 MEMOIR OB' 

as he was; he shines in all the dignity of love, and 
seems to carry about him, such a heavenly majesty, 
as impresses the mind beyond description. But if 
he talks much, though in a low voice, he sinks, and 
you are reminded of his being dust and ashes." 

"So infirm was the state of Mr. Martyn's health, 
that conversation with his friends, soon produced a 
recurrence of those symptoms which had occasioned 
alarm at Cawnpore; and yet, notwithstanding this, 
with one exception only, he preached every Sabbath 
at Calcutta, until he finally left it. Animated with 
the zeal of that Apostle, who at Troas continued his 
discourse till midnight, he could not refrain from 
lifting up his voice, weak as it was, in divine warnings 
and invitations, in a place where something seemed 
to intimate that he never again should declare God's 
judgment on the impenitent, nor invite the weary 
and heavy laden to Jesus Christ for rest." 

"I now pass," said Mr. Martyn on the first day of 
the year 1811, "from India to Arabia, not knowing 
the things which shall befal me there, but assured 
that an ever faithful God and Savior will be with 
me, in all places whithersoever I go. May he guide 
me and protect me, and after prospering me in the 
thing where unto I go, bring me back again to my 
delightful work in India. I am perhaps leaving it 
to see it no more — but the will of God be done; my 
times are in his hand, and he will cut them bhort as 
shall be most for my good; with this assurance, I 
feel that nothing need interrupt my work or my 
peace.' 1 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 333 

On the 7th day of January, after having preached 
a sermon on the Anniversary of the Calcutta Bible 
Society, which was afterwards printed, and entitled, 
"Christian India; or, an Appeal on behalf of nine 
hundred thousand Christians in India who want the 
Bible;" and after having, for the last time, addressed 
the inhabitants of Calcutta, from that text of Scrip- 
ture — "But one thing is needful," Mr. Martyn de- 
parted for ever from those shores, where he had 
fondly and fully purposed to spend all his days. 



MEMOIR. 



PART III. 



In the two former periods of Mr. Martjn's life, wc 
have seen in him— the successful candidate for aca- 
demical distinctions — the faithful and laborious Pas- 
tor — the self-denying and devoted Missionary — the 
indefatigable Translator of the Scriptures — the 
Preacher of the Gospel to the Heathen. In this, 
the last and shortest portion of the contracted term 
of his earthly existence, we are called to contem- 
plate his character in a new and yet more striking 
light, and shall have occasion to admire in him the 
erect and courageous spirit of the Christian con- 
fessor. 

The occurrences, which transpired between his 
departure from the mouth of the Hoogley and his 
arrival at Shiraz, occupy an interval of five months. 



REV. HENRY MARTYR. 335 

They are partly recorded in the following extracts 
from his private Journal, and partly related in a 
letter to Mr. Corrie, from Shiraz. 

"Bay of Bengal, January, 1811. — "I took a pas- 
sage in the ship Ahmoody, Capt. Kinsay, bound to 
Bombay. One of my fellow passengers was the 
Honorable Mr. Elphinstone, who was proceeding 
to take the Residency of Poonah. His agreeable 
manners and classical acquirements, made me think 
myself fortunate, indeed,in having such a companion, 
and I found his company the most agreeable part of 
my voyage. 

"Our Captain was a pupil of Swartz's, of whom 
he communicated many interesting particulars. 
Swartz, with KolhoiT and Joenicke, kept a school for 
half-cast children, about a mile and a half from Tan- 
jore, but went every night to the Tanjore Church, 
to meet about sixty or seventy of the King's regi- 
ment, who assembled for devotional purposes: af- 
terwards he officiated to their wives and children in 
Portuguese. At the school, Swartz used to read in 
the morning, out of the 'German Meditation for 
every Day in the Year;' at night he had family 
prayer. Joenicke taught them geography; Kolhoff, 
writing and arithmetic. They had also masters in 
Persian and Malabar. 

"At the time, when the present Rajah was in dan- 
ger of his life from the usurper of his uncle's throne, 
Swartz used to sleep in the same room with him. 



336 MEMOIR OF 

This was sufficient protection, 'for (said the Cap- 
tain,) Swartz was considered by the natives as some- 
thing more than mortal.' The old Rajah, at his 
death, committed his nephew to Swartz. 

"All down the Bay of Bengal, I could do nothing 
but sit listless on the poop, viewing the wide waste 
of waters — a sight that would have been beautiful, 
had I been well. 

"On the 18th we came in sight of the island of 
Ceylon. 

"In my Hebrew researches I scarcely ever felt so 
discouraged. All the knowledge I thought I had 
acquired, became uncertain, and consequently I was 
unhappy. It was in vain that I reflected, that thous- 
ands live and die happy, without such knowledge as 
I am in search of. 

"20th — Sunday. — Had Divine Service in the 
cabin, in the morning, but waited in vain for what I 
call a proper opportunity of introducing family 
prayer. When shall I have done with this pernic- 
ious delicacy, that would rather yield up souls than 
suffer a wound itself? 

"22nd. — Came to an anchor off Columbo. In the 
afternoon, went on shore with Mr. Elphinstone, and 
walked to a cinnamon garden. The road all along 
was beautiful: tall groves of cocoanut trees on each 
side, with the Natives' tents amongst them, opened 
here and there, and gave a view of the sea. The 
Cingalese, who accompanied us, told the Natives who 
saw us, we were Protestant Christians- On our way 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 337 

back, we saw a party of Cingalese Christians return- 
ing home from a church-yard, where they had been 
burying a corpse. I crossed over to them, and found 
their Catechist, who, however, spoke too little En- 
glish to give me any information. 

"23.— Sailed from Ceylon, across the Gulf of Ma- 
naar, where there is generally a swell, but which we 
found smooth. Having passed Cape Comorin, and 
come into smooth water, I proposed family prayer 
every night in the cabin — when no objection was 
made. Spoke a ship to-day, conveying pilgrims 
from Manilla to Jidda. The first object, discernible 
under the high mountains at Cape Comorin, was a 
church. As we passed along the shore, churches 
appeared every two or three miles, with a row of 
huts on each side. The churches are like the meet- 
ing-houses in England, with a porch at the West end. 
Perhaps many of these poor people, with all the in- 
cumbrances of Popery, are moving towards the king- 
dom of heaven. 

"20. — Anchored oif Alapee. Learned that there 
were here about three hundred Christians, Portu- 
guese, besides the fishermen cast. The church was 
a temporary erection, but a stone edifice is to be 
raised on the spot. The Portuguese Padre resides 
at another church about three miles off. 

"24th to 31st. — Generally unwell. In prayer, my 
views of my Savior have been inexpressibly consol- 
atory. * How glorious the privilege that we exist 

but in him; without him I lose the principle of life,' 
29 



338 "MEMOIR OP 

and ain left to the power of native corruption, a 
rotten branch, a dead thing, that none can make 
use of. This mass of corruption, when it meets the 
Lord, changes its nature, and lives throughout, and 
is regarded by God, as a member of Christ's body. 
This is my bliss, that Christ is all. Upheld by him, 
I smile at death. It is no longer a question about 
my own worthiness: I glory in God, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

"Feb. 7. — Arrived at Goa. Spent the evening 
at Mr. * * # 's, to whom I had letters of recommend- 
ation. The next day I went up, with Mr. Elphin- 
stone and others, to Old Goa, where we were shewn 
the convents and churches. At the convent of the 
Nuns, observing one reading, I asked to see the 
book. It was handed through the grate, and as it 
was a Latin prayer-book, I wrote in it something 
about having the world in the heart, though flying 
from it to a convent. With two or three half- 
native monks I tried to converse, but they knew so 
little Latin, that I could not gain much from them: 
the Portuguese Padres seemed to know still less. 
After visiting the tomb of Francis Xavier, we went 
to the Inquisition: we were not admitted beyond 
the antichamber. The priest we found there (a 
secular) conversed a little on the subject, and said, 
it was the ancient practice, that if any spoke against 
religion, they were conducted thither and chastised; 
that there were some prisoners there under exam- 
ination at that time. No one dares resist the offi- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 339 

cer9 of the Inquisition: the moment they touch him, 
he surrenders himself. Colonel * **, who is writing 
an account of the Portuguese in this settlement, 
told me, that the population of the Portuguese ter- 
ritory was two hundred and sixty thousand, of 
whom two hundred thousand, he did not doubt, 
were Christians. — At midnight we sailed. 

"17th. — (Sunday.) — A tempestuous sea throwing 
us all into disorder, we had no service. 

"18th. — Anchored at Bombay. — This day I finish 
the thirtieth year of my unprofitable life: an age 
at which David Brainerd finished his course. I am 
now at the age when the Savior of men began his 
ministry — when John the Baptist called a nation to 
repentance. Let me think now for myself, and act 
with energy. Hitherto, I have made my youth and 
insignificance, an excuse for sloth and imbecility: now 
let me have a character, and act boldly for God. 

"19th. — Went on shore. Waited on the Gover- 
nor, and was kindly accommodated with a room at 
the Government-House. 

"2 1st. — Talked to the Governor about what we 
had been doing at Bengal, and begged that he 
would interest himself, and procure us all the infor- 
mation he could about the Native Christians: this 
he promised to do. At Bombay, there are twenty 
thousand Christiana; at Salsette, twenty-one thou- 
sand; and at this place, there are forty-one thou- 
sand, using the Mahratta language. 



840 MEMOIR OF 

"22nd. — -At the Courier press saw the Malay- 
alim New Testament in print, as far as the 11th of 
John. 

"24th. — Preached at the Bombay Church. 

"March 5. — Feeroz, a Parsee, who is considered 
as the most learned man here, called to converse 
about religion. He spoke Persian, and seemed fa- 
miliar with Arabic. He began with saying, that no 
one religion had more evidences of its truth than 
another, for that all the miracles of the respective 
founders depended upon tradition. — This I denied. 
He acknowledged that the writer of the Zendavesta 
was not contemporary with Zoroaster. After dis- 
puting, and raising objections, he was left without an 
answer, but continued to cavil. 'Why (said he) did 
the Magi see the star in the East, and none else? 
from what part of the East did they come? and 
how was it possible that their King should come 
to Jerusalem in seven days?' The last piece of in- 
formation, he had from the Armenians. I asked 
him, 'Whether he had any thoughts of changing his 
religion?' He replied, with a contemptuous smile, 
'No: every man is safe in his own religion.' I asked, 
him, 'What sinners must do to obtain pardon?' 'Re- 
pent,' said he. I asked, 'Would repentance satisfy 
a creditor or a judge?' 'Why, is it not said in the 
Gospel,' rejoined he, 'that we must repent?' I re- 
plied, 'It cannot be proved from the Gospel, that 
repentance alone is sufficient, or good works, or both.' 
'Where then is the glory of salvation?' he said. I re- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 



341 



plied, 'The Atonement of Christ.' 'All this (said 
he) I know: but so the Mahometans say, that Ho- 
syn was an atonement for the sins of men.' He 
then began to criticise the translations which he 
saw on the table, and wondered why they were not 
made in such Persian as was now in use. He look- 
ed at the beginning of the 8th of Romans, in the 
Bartlett Buildings' Arabic Testament, but could 
gather no meaning at all from it. 

"8th. — He called again, and he gave me some ac- 
count of his own people. He said that they consid- 
ered the terms Magi and Guebr as terms of re- 
proach, and that their proper name was Musdy- 
asni; that no books were written in their most an- 
cient language, namely, the Pahlavee, but Zoro- 
aster's twenty-one; of these twenty-one, only two 
remain. He shewed me some of a poem which 
he is writing; the subject, is the conquest of India 
by the English; the title, Georgiad. He is cer- 
tainly an ingenious man, and possesses one of the 
most agreeable qualities a disputant can possess, 
which is — patience; he never interrupted me, and 
if I rudely interrupted him, he was silent in a mo- 
ment. 

"7th. — Mahomed Jan, a very young man, son of 
Mehdee Ali Khan, Lord Wellesley's Envoy to Per- 
sia, called. I should not have thought him worth 
arguing with, he seemed such a boy; but his fluency 
in Persian pleased me so much, that I was glad to 
hear him speak: he was, beside*, familiar with all 
*29 



342 MEMOIR OF 

the arguments the Mouluwees usually bring forward; 
moreover, I thought that perhaps his youthful mind 
might be more open to conviction than that of the 
hoary Moollahs. 

"9.— Visited the Elephanta Island. 

"10. — (Sunday.) — This morning Feeroz called be- 
fore church. He said that their order of priest- 
hood consisted of the descendants of Zoroaster, and 
were called Mobid; that four times a month they 
assembled, viz. the 6th, ] 3th, 20th, and 27th: stran- 
gers not allowed to see the sacred fire, 'though,' 
said the old man, significantly, 'I think there is noth- 
ing unlawful in it, but the common people do.' He 
began to profess himself a Deist. 'In our religion, 
(said he,) they believe, as Zoroaster taught, that 
the heavens and earth were made; but I believe no 
such thing. 5 

"16. — Walked at night with a respectable Jew 
of Bussorah, whose name w r as Ezra: he knew next 
to nothing. 

"25. — Embarked on board the Benares, Captain 
Sealy, who, in company with the Prince of Wales, 
Captain Hepbourne, was ordered to cruise in the 
Persian Gulf, against the Arab pirates. We got 
under weigh immediately, and were outside the 
land before night. 

"30. — The European part of the ship's crew, 
consisting of forty-five sailors and twelve artillery- 
men, were assembled on the quarter-deck for divine 
service. I wondered to see so many of the seamen 



R.EV. HENRY MARTYX. 



343 



inattentive: I afterwards found that most of them 
were foreigners, French, Spanish, Portuguese, &c. 
We had prayers in the cabin every night. In the 
afternoon I used to read to a sick man below, and 
two or three others would come to hear. 

"April 14. (Easter Sunday.) — Came in sight of 
the Persian coast, near Tiz, in Meehran. 

"21. — Anchored at Muscat, in Arabia. 

"23. — Went on shore with the captain, to the 
Indian broker's, at whose house we met the Vizier, 
by appointment. There was an unimportant con- 
ference, at which I assisted as interpreter. The 
Sultan was a few miles off, fighting with the We* 
chabites. 

"24. — Went with our English party, two Ar- 
menians, and an Arab soldier, to see a garden; there 
was nothing very wonderful in the garden; but a lit- 
tle green in this frightful wilderness was. no doubt, 
to the Arab a great curiosity. His African slave 
argued with me for Mahommed, and did not know 
how to let me go, he was so interested in the busi- 
ness. 

"25. — The Arab soldier and his slave came on 
board to take leave. They asked to see the Gos- 
pel. The instant I gave them a copy in Arabic, the 
poor boy began to read, and carried it off as a great 
prize, which I trust he will find it to be. This night 
warped out of the Cove, and got under weigh. I 
had not a night's rest from the day we entered it.- 



344 MEMOIR OF 

"26 — Came in sight of the Persian shore again. 

"28. — (Sunday.) — At anchor in Jasques Bay, 
which the artillery officer surveyed. Captain Hep- 
bourne brought his crew to church. Went on 
board his ship to see two Armenian young men, who 
informed me of the conversion of Mirza Ishmael, 
son of the Shehool Islam, of Isfahan, who was gone 
to Bombay for baptism. 

"May 7. — Finished a work in which 1 have been 
engaged a fortnight, a new arrangement of all the 
Hebrew roots, classing them according to the last 
letter, the last but one. 6cc. 

. "20. — After a troublesome North-w T ester, we have 
now a fair wind, carrying us gently to Bushire. 

"22,— Landed at Bushire." 

"A few days after my letter to you from Muscat, 
(Mr. Martyn wrote to Mr. Corrie, after a journey to 
Shiraz, in which his life was endangered,) we sailed 
for the Gulf, and continued cruising a month, gener- 
ally in sight of Persia or Arabia, sometimes of both. 
On the 22nd of May we landed at Bushire, and took 
up our lodging with Mr. * * * We were now in a 
new situation. — Mrs. * * * and her sister, both Ar- 
menians, spoke nothing but Persian at table; the 
servants and children the same. One day a party 
of Armenian ladies came to kiss my hand — the 
usual mark of respect shewn to their own priests; I 
was engaged at the time, but they begged to have 
it explained, that they had not been deficient in 
their duty. The Armenian priest was as dull as 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 345 

they usually are. He sent for me, one Sunday even- 
ing, to come to church; though he was ministering 
when I entered, he came out, and brought me within 
the rails of the altar; and at the time of incense, 
censed me four times, while the others were hon- 
ored with only one fling of the cesser: this the old 
man begged me afterwards to notice. But though 
his civility was., well meant, I could hardly prevail 
upon myself to thank him for it. It was due, he 
said, to a Padre: thus we provide for the honor of 
our own order, not contented with that degree of 
respect which really belongs to us. Walking after- 
wards with him by the sea-shore, I tried to engage 
him in a conversation respecting the awful impor- 
tance of our office, but nothing could be more vapid 
and inane than his remarks. 

"One day we called on the Governor, a Persian 
Khan: he was very particular in his attentions, 
seated me in his own seat, and then sat by my side. 
After the usual salutations and inquiries, the calean 
(hooka) was introduced, then coffee in china cups 
placed within silver ones, then calean, then some 
rose-water syrup, then calean. As there were 
long intervals often, in which nought was heard but 
the gurgling of the calean, I looked around, witli 
some anxiety, for something to discourse upon, and 
observing the windows to be of stained glass, I 
began, to question him about the art of coloring 
glass, observing, that the modern Europeans were 
inferior to the ancient in the manufacture of that 



346 r MEMOIR OF 

article. He expressed his surprise that Europeans, 
who were so skilful in making watches, should fail 
in any handicraft work. I could not help recollect- 
ing the Emperor of China's sarcastic remark on the 
Europeans and their arts, and so I dropped the sub- 
ject. On his calean, (I said hooka at first, but he 
did not understand me,) I noticed several little paint- 
ings of the Virgin and Child, and asked him wheth- 
er such things were not unlawful among the Ma- 
hometans? He answered, very cooly, 'Yes;' as 
much as to say, 'What then?' I lamented that the 
Eastern Christians should use such things in their 
churches. He repeated the words of a good man, 
who was found fault with for having an image before 
him while at prayer: 'God is nearer to me than that 
image, so that I do not see it.' We then talked of 
the ancient Caliphs of Bagdad, their magnificence, 
regard for learning, &c. This man, I afterwards 
found, is, like most of the other Grandees of the 
East, a murderer. Pie was appointed to the Gov- 
ernment of Bushire, in the place of an Arab Shekh, 
in whose family it had been many years. The 
Persian, dreading the resentment of the other Arab 
families, invited the heads of them to a feast. After 
they had regaled themselves a little, he proposed to 
them to take off their swords, as they were all 
friends together: they did so, a signal was given, and 
a band of ruffians murdered them all immediately. 
The Governor rode off, with a body of troops, to 
their villages, and murdered or secured their wives 



REV. HEJN'RV MARTYR. 347 

and children. This was about two years and a half 



ago. 



"Abdalla Aga, a Turk, who expects to be Pacha 
of Bagdad, called to examine us in Arabic; he is a 
great Arabic scholar himself, and came to see how 
much we knew, or rather, if the truth were known, 
to shew how much he himself knew. There was 
lately a conspiracy at Bagdad, to murder the Pacha. 
He was desired to add his name, which he did by 
compulsion, but secured himself from putting his seal 
to it, pretending he had lost it: this saved him. All 
the conspirators were discovered and put to death; 
he escaped with his life, but was obliged to fly to 
Bushire. 

"On 30th May our Persian dresses were ready, 
and we set out for Shiraz. The Persian dress con- 
sists of stockings and shoes in one, next a pair of 
large blue trowsers, or else a pair of huge red boots; 
then the shirt, then the tunic, and above it the coat, 
both of chintz, and a great coat. I have here de- 
scribed my own dress, most of which I have on this 
moment. On the head is worn an enormous cone, 
made of the skin of the black Tartar sheep, with the 
wool on. If to this description of my dress I add, 
that my beard and mustachios have been suffered to 
vegetate undisturbed ever since I left India — that I 
am sitting on a Persian carpet, in a room without 
tables or chairs — that I bury my hand in the pilaw, 
without waiting for spoon or plate, you will give me 
credit for being already an accomplished Oriental. 



348 MEMOIR OF 

"At ten oxlock on the 30th, our cafila began to 
move. It consisted chiefly of mules, with a few 
horses. I wished to have a mule, but the muleteer 
favored me with his own poney; this animal had a 
bell fastened to its neck. To add solemnity to the 
scene, a Bombay trumpeter, who was going up to 
join the Embassy, was directed to blow a blast as we 
moved off the ground; but whether it was, that the 
trumpeter was not adept in the science, or that his 
instrument was out of order, the crazy sounds that 
saluted our ears had a ludicrous effect. At last, 
after some justling, mutual recriminations, and recal- 
citrating of the steeds, we each found our places, 
and moved out of the gate of the city in good order. 
The Resident accompanied us a little way, and then 
left us to pursue our journey over the plain. It was 
in a fine moonlight night, the scene new, and per- 
fectly oriental, and nothing prevented me from in- 
dulging my own reflections. I felt a little melan- 
choly, but commended myself anew to God, and felt 
assured of his blessing, protection, and presence. 
As the night advanced, the cafila grew quiet; on a 
sudden one of the muleteers began to sing, and sang 
in a voice so plaintive, that it was impossible not to 
have one's attention arrested. Every voice was 
hushed. As you are a Persian scholar, I write down 
the whole, with a translation: — 

« Think not that e'er my heart can dwell 

Contented far from thee: 
How can the fresh-caught nightingale 

Enjoy. tranquillity? 



rev. Henry martyn. 349 

O then forsake thy friend for nought 

That slanderous tongues can say; 
The heart that fixeth where it ought, 

"No power can rend away.' 

"Thus far my journey was agreeable: now for 
miseries. At sunrise we came to our ground at 
Ahmedee, six parasangs, and pitched our little tent 
under a tree: it was the only shelter we could get. 
At first the heat was not greater than we had felt 
in India, but it soon became so great, aS to be quite 
alarming. — When the thermometer was above 112°, 
fever heat, I began to lose my strength fast; at last 
it became quite intolerable. I wrapped myself up 
in a blanket and all the warm covering I could get, 
to defend myself from the external air, by which 
means, the moisture was kept a little longer upon the 
body, and not so speedily evaporated as when the 
skin was exposed: one of my companions followed 
my example, and found the benefit of it. But the 
thermometer still rising, and the moisture of the 
body quite exhausted, I grew restless, and thought 
I should have lost my senses. The thermometer 
at last stood at 126°: in this state I composed my- 
self, and concluded, that though I might hold out a 
day or two, death was inevitable. Capt. # # *, who 
sat it out, continued to tell the hour, and height of the 
thermometer: with what pleasure did we hear of 
its sinking to 120°, 1 18°, &c. At last the fierce sun 
retired, and I crept out, more dead than alive. It 
was then a difficulty how I could proceed on my 
journey; for besides the immediate effects of the 
30 



350 MEMOIR OF 

heat, I had no opportunity of making up for the last 
night's want of sleep, and had eaten nothing. How- 
ever, while they were lading the mules I got an 
hour's sleep, and sat out, the muleteer leading my 
horse, and Zachary, my servant, an Armenian, of 
Isfahan, doing all in his power to encourage me. 
The cool air of the night restored me wonderfully, 
so that I arrived at our next munzel w 7 ith no other 
derangement than that occasioned by want of sleep. 
Expecting another such day as the former, we began 
to make preparations the instant we arrived at the 
ground. I got a tattie, made of the branches of the 
date tree, and a Persian peasant to w 7 ater it; by this 
means the thermometer did not rise higher than 
114°. But what completely secured me from the 
heat, was a large wet towel, which I wrapped round 
my head and body, muffling up the lower part in 
clothes. How could I but be grateful to a gracious 
Providence, for giving me so simple a defence against 
what, I am persuaded, would have destroyed my 
life that day. We took care not to go without 
nourishment, as we had done; the neighboring vil- 
lage supplied us with curds and milk. At sun-set, 
rising up to go out, a scorpion fell upon my clothes; 
not seeing where it fell, I did not know what it was; 
but Capt. * # * pointing it out, gave the alarm, and 
I struck it off, and he killed it. — The night before, 
we found a black scorpion in our tent; this made us 
rather uneasy, so that though the cafila did not start 
till midnight, we got no sleep, fearing we might be 
visited by another scorpion. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 351 

"The next morning we arrived at the foot of the 
mountains, at a place where we seamed to have 
discovered one of nature's ulcers. A strong suffo- 
cating smell of naphtha announced something more 
than ordinarily foul in the neighborhood. We saw 
a river: what flowed in it, it seemed difficult to say, 
whether it were water or green oil; it scarcely- 
moved, and the stones which it laved, it left of a 
greyish color, as if its foul touch had given them 
the leprosy. Our place of encampment this day 
was a grove of date trees, where the atmosphere, 
at sun-rise, was ten times hotter than the ambient 
air. I threw myself down on the burning ground 
and slept: when the tent came up, I awoke, as usual, 
in a burning fever. All this day I had recourse to 
the wet towe!, which kept me alive, but would allow 
of no sleep. It was a sorrowful Sabbath; but Capt. 
### reac i a f ew hymns, in which I found great con- 
solation. At nine in the evening we decamped. 
The ground and air were so insufferably hot, that I 
could not travel without a wet towel round my face 
and neck. This night, for the first time, we began 
to ascend the mountains. The road often passed 
so close to the edge of the tremendous precipice, 
that one false step of the horse would have plunged 
his rider into inevitable destruction. In such cir- 
cumstances, I found it useless to attempt guiding the 
animal, and therefore gave him the rein. These 
poor animals are so used to journies of this sort, 
that they generally stept sure. There was nothing 



352 SiEMOIR OF 

to mark the road, but the rocks being a little more 
worn in one pkce than in another. Sometimes, my 
horse, which led the way, as beins: the muleteer's, 
stopped, as if to consider about the way: for my- 
self, I could not guess, at such times, where the 
road lay, but he always found it. The sublime 
scenery would have impressed me much, in other 
circumstances; but my sleepiness and fatigue ren- 
dered me insensible to every thing around me. At 
last we emerged, superas ad auras* not to the top of 
a mountain to go down again, but to a plain or upper 
w r orld. At the pass, where a cleft in the mountain 
admitted us into the plain, was a station of Rahdars. 
While they were examining the muleteer's pass- 
ports, &c. time was given for the rest of the cafila 
to come up, and I got a little sleep for a few min- 
utes. We rode briskly over the plain, breathing a 
purer air, and soon came in sight of a fair edifice, 
built by the king of the country, for the refresh- 
ment of pilgrims. In this caravansara we took up 
our abode for the day. It was more calculated for 
Eastern than European travellers, having no means 
of keeping out the air and light. We found the 
thermometer at 110°. At the passes we met a 
man travelling down to Bushire with a load of ice^ 
which he willingly disposed of to us. The next 
night we ascended another range of mountains, and 
passed over a plain, where the cold was so piercing, 
that, with all the clothes we could muster, we were 

* To the upper regions. 



REV. HENRY MARTkW. 353 

shivering. At the end of this plain, we entered a 
dark valley, contained by two ranges of hills con- 
verging to one another. The muleteer gave no- 
tice he saw robbers. It proved to be a false 
alarm: but the place was fitted to be a retreat for 
robbers; there were on each side caves, and fast- 
nesses, from which they might have killed, at leisure, 
every man of us. After ascending another moun- 
tain, we descended by a very long and circuitous 
route, into an extensive valley, where we were ex- 
posed to the sun till eight o'clock. Whether from 
the sun, or continued want of sleep, I could not, on 
my arrival at Carzeroon, compose myself to sleep; 
there seemed to be a fire within my head, my skin 
like a cinder, and the pulse violent. Through the 
day it was again too hot to sleep, though the place 
we occupied was a sort of summer house, in a gar- 
den of cypress trees, exceedingly well fitted up with 
mats and colored glass. Had the cafila gone on that 
night, I could not have accompanied it; but it halted 
here a day, by which means I got a sort of night's 
rest, though I awoke twenty times to dip my burn- 
ing hands in water. Though Carzeroon is the sec- 
ond greatest town in Fars, we could get nothing 
but bread, milk, and eggs, and that with difficulty. 
The governor, who is under great obligations to the 
English, heard of our arrival, but sent us no message. 
"June 5. — At ten we left Carzeroon, and ascend- 
ed a mountain; we then descended it, on the other 
side, into a beautiful valley, where the opening dawn 
*30 



354 MEMOIR OF 

discovered to us ripe fields of wheat and barler, 
with the green oak, here and there, in the midst of 
it. We were reminded of an autumnal morning in 
England. Thermometer, 62°. 

"6. — Half way up the Peergan mountain we found 
a caravansara. There being no village in the neigh- 
borhood, we had brought supplies from Carzeroon. 
My servant Zachary got a fall from his mule this 
morning, which much bruised him; he looked very 
sorrowful, and had lost much of his garrulity. Zach- 
ary became remarkable, throughout the cafila, for 
making speeches; he had something to say, to all 
people, on all occasions. 

"7. — Left the caravansara at one this morning; 
continued to ascend. The hours we were permit- 
ted to rest, the musquitoes had effectually prevent- 
ed me from using, so I never felt more miserable 
and disordered; the cold was very severe; for fear 
of falling off, from sleep and numbness, I walked a 
good part of the way. We pitched our tent in the 
Yale of Dustarjan, near a crystal stream, on the 
banks of which we observed the clover and golden 
cup: the whole valley was one green field, on which 
large herds of cattle were browsing. The temper- 
ature was about that of the spring in England. 
There a few hours sleep recovered me, in some de- 
gree, from the stupidity in which I had been for 
some days. I awoke with a light heart, and said, 
'He knoweth our frame, and remembereth we are 
dust. He redeemeth our life from destruction, and 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 356 

crowneth us with loving kindness and tender mer- 
cies. He maketh us to lie down in the green pas- 
tures, and leadeth us beside the still waters. And 
when we have left this vale of tears, there is no 
more sorrow, nor sighing, nor any more pain. The 
sun shall not light upon thee, nor any heat: but the 
lamb shall lead thee to living fountains of waters.' 

"8. — Went on to a caravansara, three parasangs, 
where we passed the day. At night set out upon 
our last march for Shiraz. Sleepiness, my old com- 
panion and enemy, again overtook me. I was in 
perpetual danger of falling off my horse, till at last 
I pushed my horse on to a considerable distance be- 
yond the cafila, planted my back against a wall, and 
slept I know not how long; till the good muleteer 
came up and gently waked me. 

"In the morning of the 9th we found ourselves 
in the plain of Shiraz. We put up at first in a 
garden, but are now at Jaffier Ali Khan's." 

Arrived at the celebrated seat of Persian litera- 
ture, Mr. Martyn, having ascertained the general 
correctness of the opinion delivered at Calcutta, re- 
specting the translation of the New Testament, by 
Sabat, commenced immediately another version in 
the Persian language. An able and willing assist- 
ant, in this arduous and important work, presented 
himself in the person of Mirza Seid Ali Khan, the 
brother-in-law of his host, Jaffier Ali Khan. His 
coadjutor, he soon discovered, was one of a numer- 



356 MEMOIR OF 

ous and increasing religious community, whose ten- 
ets, (if that term be not inapplicable to any thing of 
so fluctuating and indefinite a nature as their senti- 
ments,) appear to consist of refined mysticism of the 
most Latitudwarian complexion; a quality, be it re- 
membered, entirely opposite to the exclusive char- 
acter and inflexible spirit of Christianity, and which 
pervading, as it does so completely, the system of 
Soofeism, sufficiently accounts for its toleration under 
a Mahometan despotism, of a purer and more abso- 
lute kind than exists even in the Turkish dominions. 

In Jaffier Ali Khan, a Mahometan of rank and con- 
sequence, to whom Mr. Martyn had letters of rec- 
ommendation, he found a singular urbanity of man- 
ners, united to a temper of a more solid and substan- 
tial excellence — a kindness of disposition, ever fertile 
in expedients conducive to the comfort and conveni- 
ence of his guest. There was in him also, as well 
as in his brother-in-law, what was still more gratify- 
ing, an entire absence of bigotry and prejudice; and 
on all occasions he was ready to invite, rather than 
decline, the freest interchange of opinion on relig- 
ious topics. 

The work, for which Mr. Martyn had come to 
Shiraz, was commenced on the 17th of June, little 
more than a week after his reaching that city. It 
was preceded by a very pleasing interview with two 
priests of the Mahometan faith, of which we have 
this account. — "In the evening, Seid Ali came, with 
two Moollahs, disciples of his uncle Mirza Ibraheem, 



REV. HENRY MftRTYN. 357 

and with them I had a very long and temperate dis- 
cussion. One of them read the beginning of St. 
John, in the Arabic, and inquired very particularly 
into our opinions respecting the person of Christ; and 
when he was informed that we did not consider his 
human nature eternal, nor his mother divine, seemed 
quite satisfied, and remarked to the others, 'how 
much misapprehension is removed when people 
come to an explanation.' 

As Mr. Martyn was himself an object of atten- 
tion and curiosity in Shiraz, and the Testament was 
wholly new to his coadjutor, he was not suffered to 
proceed in his work without many interruptions. 

"Seid Ali," he writes, June 17, "began translating 
the Gospel of John with me. We were interrupted 
by the entrance of two very majestic personages, 
one of whom was the great-grandson of Nadir Shah. 
The uncle of the present King used to wait behind 
his father's table. He is now a prisoner here, sub- 
sisting on a pension. 

"18. — At the request of our host, who is always 
planning something for our amusement, we passed 
the day at a house built half way up one of the hills 
that surround the town. A little rivulet, issuing 
from the rock, fertilizes a few yards of ground, which 
bear, in consequence, a cypress or two, sweet briar, 
jessamine, and pinks. Here, instead of a quiet re- 
treat, we found a number of noisy, idle fellows, who 
were gambling all day, and as loquacious as the men 
who occupy an alehouse bench. The Persians have 



358 MEMOIR OF 

certainly a most passionate regard for water: I sup- 
pose, because they have so little of it. There was 
nothing at all in this place worth climbing so high 
for, but the little rivulet. 

"22. — The Prince's Secretarv, who is considered 
as the best prose writer in Shiraz, called upon 
us. One of his friends wanted to talk about Soofe- 
ism. They believe, they know not what. It is 
mere vanity that makes them profess this mysticism. 
He thought to excite my wonder by telling me, that 
I, and every created thing, was God. I asked, how 
this was consistent with his religion? He then men- 
tioned the words from the Koran, 'God can be with 
another thing only by pervading it.' Either from 
curiosity, or to amuse themselves at an Indian's ex- 
pense, they called in an Indian Moonshee, who had 
come with us from Bengal, and requested him to re- 
cite some of his poetry. Thus I had an opportunity 
of witnessing this exhibition of Eastern folly. After 
a few modest apologies, the Indian grew bold, and 
struck off a few stanzas. The Persians affected to 
admire them, though it was easy to see that they 
were laughing at his pronunciation and foreign idiom. 
However, they condescended to recite, in iheir turn, 
a line or two of their own composition: and before 
they went away, wrote down a stanza or two of the 
Indian's, to signify that they were worth preserving. 
"26. — Two young men from the college, lull of 
zeal and logic, came this morning, to try me with 
hard questions, such as, whether Being be one or 



REV. HENRY MARTYN* 359 

two? what is the state and form of disembodied 
spirits? and other foolish and unlearned questions 
ministering strife, on all which I declined wasting 
my breath. At last, one of them, who was about 
twenty years of age, discovered the true cause of 
his coming, and asked me bluntly, to bring a proof 
for the religion of Christ. 'You allow the divine 
mission of Christ,' said I, 'why need I prove it?' 
Not being able to draw me into an argument, they 
said what they wished to say, namely, 'that I had 
no other proof for the miracles of Christ, than they 
had for those of Mahomet; which is tradition.' 
'Softly,' said I. 'You will be pleased to observe a 
difference between your books and ours. When, 
by tradition, we have reached our several books, 
our narrators were eye-witnesses; yours are not, nor 
nearly so." In consequence of the interruption 
these lads gave me, for they talked away a long 
time with great intemperance, I did little to-day. 

"In the evening, Seid AH asked me, 'the cause of 
evil?' I said, 'I knew nothing about it.' He thought 
he could tell me; so I let him reason on, till he soon 
found he knew as little about the matter as myself. 
He wanted to prove that there was no real differ- 
ence between good and evil — it was only apparent. 
I observed, 'that this difference, though apparent, 
was the cause of a great deal of real misery.' 

'While correcting the fifth of John, he was not a 
little surprised at finding such an account as that 
of an angel coming down and troubling the waters. 



360 MEMOIR OF 

When he found that I had no way of explaining it, 
but was obliged to understand it literally, he laugh- 
ed, as if saying, 'there are other fools in the world 
besides Mahometans.' I tried to lessen his con- 
tempt and incredulity by saying, 'that the first in- 
quiry was, Is the book from God?' 'O, to be sure,' 
said he; 'it is written in the Bible; we must believe 
it.' I asked him, 'whether there was any thing 
contrary to reason in the narrative? whether it was 
not even possible that the salubrious powers of 
other springs were owing to the descent of an 
angel?' Lastly I observed, 'that all natural agents 
might be called the angels of God.' 'This,' said 
he,' 'was consonant to their opinions, and that when 
they spoke of the angel of the winds, the angel of 
death, &c. nothing more was meant than the cause 
of the winds.' 

"27. — Before I had taken my breakfast, the 
younger of the youths came, and forced me into a 
conversation. As soon as he heard the word, 'Fa- 
ther,' in the translation, used for 'God,' he laughed, 
and went away. Soon after, two men came and 
spoke violently for hours. Seid Ali, and a respect- 
able Mouluwee, whom he brought to introduce to 
me, took up the cudgels against them, and said, 
'that the onus probandi* rested with them, not with 
me.' Zachary told me, this morning, that I was 
the town talk; that it was asserted, I was come to 

* The burden of proof. 



RET. HENRY MARTYN. 36 1 

Shiraz to be a Mussulman, and should then bring 
five thousand men to Shiraz, under pretence of 
making them Mussulmen, but in reality to take the 

"28. — The poor boy, while writing how one of 
the servants of the High Priest struck the Lord on 
the face, stopped, and said, 'Sir, did not his hand 
dry up?' 

"30. (Sunday.) — Preached to the Ambassador's 
suite on the faithful saying; in the evening baptized 
his child. 

"July I.- — A party of Armenians came, and said, 
among other things, that the Mahometans would be 
glad to be under our English government. For- 
merly they despised and hated the Feringees, but 
now they begin to say, 'What harm do they do; they 
take no man's wife, no man's property.' 

"Abdoolghunee, the Jew Mahometan, came to 
prove that he had found Mohammed in the Penta- 
teuch. Among other strange things, he said, that 
the Edomites meant the Europeans, and Mount 
Sion was in Europe. Afterwards Seid Ali asked 
me to tell him in confidence, why I believed no 
prophet could come after Christ. I chose to begin 
with the Atonement, and wished to shew, that it 
was of such a nature, that salvation by another was 
impossible. 'You talk,' said he, 'of the Atonement, 
but I do not see it any where in the Gospel.' Af- 
ter citing two passages from the Gospels, I read the 
third chapter of Romans, and the fifty-third of 
31 



362 



MEMOIR OF 



Isaiah. With the latter he was much struck. Ho 
asked many more questions, the scope of which was, 
that though Islam might not be true, he might still 
remain in it, and be saved by the Gospel. I said, 
'You deny the Divinity of Christ.' — 'I see no diffi- 
culty in that,' said he. 'You do not observe the 
institutions of Christ — Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper.' — 'These,' said he, 'are mere emblems, and 
if a man have the reality, what need of emblems.' 
'Christ,' said I, 'foresaw that the reality would not 
be so constantly perceived without them, and there- 
fore he enjoined them.' He said, 'that in his child- 
hood he used to cry, while hearing about the suflfer- 
erings of Christ,' and he wept while mentioning it. 
The 3rd of July, was distinguished by a conver- 
sation kept up between Mr. Martyn and two Mool- 
lahs principally, one of whom displayed a very dif- 
ferent spirit from that which had actuated those 
ministers of the Mahometan religion, who first visit- 
ed him. "The Jewish Moollah Abdoolghunee, with 
Moollah Abulhasan," he writes, "came prepared for 
a stiff disputation, and accordingly the altercation 
was most violent. Jaffier Ali Khan and Mirza Seid 
AH were present, with many others. The Jew 
began with asking, whether we believed that Jesus 
suffered? I referred him to the 9th of Daniel, 
'Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.' I 
begged him to shew who was the Messiah of whom 
Daniel spoke, if it was not Jesus* 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 363 

"At Abulhasan's request, he began to give his rea- 
sons for believing that Mahomet was foretold in the 
Old Testament. The Jew wanted to shew, that 
when it is said, 'Moses went out, and the twelve 
princes with him,' Moses had twelve religious Kha- 
leefs, just like Mahomet I explained to the Mus- 
sulman, that they were not for religious affairs, but 
worldly, deciding causes, &c. and that religious ser- 
vices were confined to one tribe. 

"He proceeded to Deut. xviii, 18, 'The Lord will 
raise from among their brethren,' &c. 'Brethren,' 
he said, 'must mean some other than Jews. That 
Moses and Jesus were not alike. Moses gave a law 
before he went: Jesus did not; his disciples made 
one for him; whereas Mahomet left a book himself. 
That Moses was a warrior; that Christ was not; 
but that Mahomet was. 9 I replied, 'that the words 
of God, 'from among their brethren] Moses explain- 
ed, by those, 'from among thee? and that this ex- 
cludes the possibility of Mahomet being meant.' 
After they were gone, I found Lev. xxv, 48, which 
supplies a complete answer. In reply to the objec- 
tion, that Moses and Christ were not alike, I said, 
'that in respect of the prophetic office, there was 
such a likeness, as did not exist between any other 
two prophets — that each brought a new law, and 
each was a Mediator.' 

"The Jew next read the sixty-first of Isaiah, and 
commented. I then read the same chapter, and 
observed, that Christ had cited one of the passages 



.364 MEMOIR OF 

for himself. 'The spirit of the Lord God is upon 
me,' <fec. This they attended to, because Christ had 
said so; but as for Peter's appropriating the pas- 
sage in Deuteronomy to Christ, (Acts iii,) they made 
no account of it. So ignorant are they of the na- 
ture of a Revelation. 

"When we were separating, the Moollah Abul- 
hasan gravely asked me, 'whether, if I saw proof 
of Mahomet's miracles, I would believe, and 
act as one who sought the truth?' I told him, 'I 
wished for nothing but the truth.' He then said, 
'we must have an umpire.' 'But where,' said I, 
'shall we find an impartial one?' 'He must be a Jew,' 
said one. 'Well then,' added another, 'let Abdool- 
ghunee be the man.' The apostate Jew swore, by 
the four sacred books, that he would give 'just judg- 
ment.' I could not conceal my indignation at such a 
ridiculous proposal, and said to the Jew, 'You impar- 
tial! As a Mahometan, you ought to speak well of 
Christ: but it is easy to see, that, like your brethren, 
you hate Jesus as bitterly as ever.' He was quite 
alarmed at this charge before the Mahometans, 
by whom he has long been considered as no true 
Mahometan; and, in the most gentle manner possi- 
ble, he assured me, 'none could have a greater 
respect for Jesus than he had; and that, possibly, in 
the text in Deuteronomy, Jesus might be meant, as 
well as Mahomet.' 

"At the end of this vehement controversy, when 
they were most of them gone, I said to Seid Ali, 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 365 

•that I thought, whatever others did, ho would not 
have denied me common justice.' He took me 
aside, and said to me very earnestly, 'You did not 
understand me. Abuihasan is my enemy: nothing 
does he want so much as to bring me into danger; / 
must, therefore, shew some little regard for the relig- 
ion.' 9 He told me that Mirza Ibraheem, the precep- 
tor of all the Moollahs, was now writing a book in 
defence of Mahometanism, and that it was to this 
that Abuihasan alluded, as that which was to silence 
me for ever. 

"4. — Seid AH having informed the Jew that I had 
found an answer to his argument from Genesis xvii, 
he came to know what it was, and staid the whole 
morning, asking an infinity of questions. He shewed 
himself extremely well read in the Hebrew Bible 
and Koran, quoting both with the utmost readiness. 
He argued a little for the Koran, but very coldly. 
He concluded by saying, 'he must come to me every 
day; and either make me a Mussulman, or become 
himself a Christian.' " 

The progress of the translation gave rise to the 
following affecting discourse between Seid Ali and 
Mr. Martyn. "Seid Ali, while perusing the twelfth 
of John, observed, 'How he loved these twelve per- 
sons!' 'Yes,' said I; 'and all those who believe in 
him, through their word.' After our work was 
done, he began to say, 'From my childhood I have 
been in search of a religion, and am still undecided. 
Till now, I never had an opportunity of conversing 
# 31 



366 MEMOIR OF 

with those of another religion: the English I have 
met in Persia have generally been soldiers, or men 
occupied with the world.' To some remarks I 
made about the necessity of having the mind made 
up upon such a subject, considering the shortness of 
our stay here, he seemed cordially to assent, and 
shed tears. I recommended prayer, and the consid- 
eration of that text, 'If any man will do his will, he 
shall know of the doctrine,' and spoke as having 
found it verified in my own experience, that when I 
could once say before God, 'What wilt thou have 
me to do?' I found peace. — I then went through all 
the different states of my mind, at the time I was 
called to the knowledge of the Gospel. He listen- 
ed with great interest and said, 'You must not regret 
the loss of so much time as vou give me, because it 
does me good.' " 

The situation of those, whose forefathers crucified 
the Lord of Glory, is ever pitiable to a Christian 
mind: but how much more are the Jews entitled to 
compassion, when groaning under the iron rod of op- 
pression on the one hand, and tempted on the other, 
to exchange their own religion for a base imposture 
upon the basest considerations. Who can read the 
follow ins: account of their condition at Shiraz, witti- 
out sighing over the depth of their temporal and 
spiritual degradation! 

"5. — The Jew came again, with another Jew, 
both Mussulmen. The Prince gives every Jew, on 
conversion, an honorary dress; so they are turning 



REV, HENRY MARTYR*. 367 

Mahometans every day. A young man, son of the 
old Jew, asked, 'how it could be supposed that God 
would leave so many nations so long in darkness, if 
Islam be an error?' The father sat, with great 
complacency, to see how I could get oyer this. I 
asked, 'why God, for four thousand years, made him- 
self known to their nation only, and left all the rest 
in darkness?' — They were silent. 

"The old man, forgetting he was a Mussulman, 
asked again, 'if Jesus was the Messiah, why did not 
the fiery wrath of God break out against them, as it 
did formerly for every small offence?' 'But first,' 
said he, 'what do you think of God's severity to the 
Jews at other times?' I said, 'If my son do any 
thing wrong, I punish him: but with the thieves and. 
murderers out of doors, I have nothing to do.' This 
affected the old man; and his son recollected many 
passages in the Bible appropriate to this sentiment, 
and said, 'Yes, they were indeed a chosen genera- 
tion.' I proceeded — 'But did not the wrath of God 
break out against you at the death of Christ, in a 
more dreadful manner than ever it did?' They men- 
tioned the Captivity. But what, (said I.) was the 
Captivity? it lasted but seventy years. But now 
seventeen hundred years have passed away; and 
have you a king, or a temple? Are you not mean and 
despised every where?' They seemed to feel this, 
and nodded assent. 

"During this conversation, I said, 'God has raised 
up a great Prophet from the midst of you, and now 



368 MEMOIR OF 

you are gone after a stranger of a nation who Were 
always your enemies. You acknowledge Jesus, in- 
deed; but it is only for fear of the sword of the 
Ismaelite. They wondered why Christians should 
love them more than they do the Mahometans, as I 
told them we did, and pretended to argue against it. 
as unreasonable, evidently from a wish to hear me 
repeat a truth which was so agreeable to them. 

On the morning of the 6th, Mr. Martyn, ever 
anxious to pay all due reverence to "the powers 
that be," presented himself, with the Ambassador 
and suite, before Prince Abbas Mirza: — he thus 

describes the ceremony. "Early this morning I 

went with the Ambassador and suite, to Court, wear- 
ing, agreeable to costume, a pair of red cloth stock- 
ings, Avith green high-heeled shoes. When we en- 
tered the great court of the palace, a hundred foun- 
iains began to play. The Prince appeared at the 
opposite side, in his talar, or hall of audience, seat- 
ed on the ground. Here our first bow was made. 
When we came in sight of him, we bowed a second 
time, and entered the room. He did not rise, nor 
take notice of any but the Ambassador, with whom 
he conversed at the distance of the breadth of the 
room. Two of his Ministers stood in front of the 
hall, outside; the Ambassador's Michmandar, and 
the Master of the Ceremonies, within, at the door. 
We sat down in order, in a line with the Ambassa- 
dor, with our hats on. I never saw a more sweet 
and engaging countenarxa than the Prince's; there 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 369 

was such an appearance of good nature and humili- 
ty in all his demeanor, that I could scarcely bring 
myself to believe that he would be guilty of any 
thing cruel or tyrannical." 

The Jewish Moollah, who a few days before, had 
attempted to support a heresy wliich he himself 
did not believe, revisited Mr. Martyn, accompanied 
by one of his brethren, who had apostatized — these 
were followed on the same day, by two other visi- 
tors, one of whom was a man of great consequence 
and of equal courtesy. — "The Jew came again, (he 
says, June 1 1,) with one of his apostate brethren 
from Bagdad. As he was boasting to Seid Ali, that 
he had gained one hundred Jews to Islam, I could 
not help saying, 'I will tell you how Jews are made 
Mahometans. First, the Prince gives them a dress; 
secondly' — here the old man colored, and interrupt- 
ing me, began to urge, that it was not with the hope 
of any worldly advantage. 

"His object to-day was, to prove that the pas- 
sages in the Old Testament, which we applied to 
Jesus, did not belong to him. I referred him to the 
16th Psalm. He said, 'that none of the prophets 
saw corruption.' He did not recollect the miracle 
wrought by the bones of Elisha, nor did I either at 
the time. 

"Mahommed Shareef Khan, one of the most re- 
nowned of the Persian generals, having served the 
present Royal Family for four generations, called 
to see me, out of respect to General Malcolm. An 



370 MEMOIR OF 

Armenian priest also, on his way from Bussorah to 
Isfahan: he was as ignorant as the rest of his breth- 
ren. To my surprise 1 found he was of the Latin 
Church, and read the service in Latin; though he 
confessed he knew nothing about the language." 

Mr. Martyn unwilling to lose any opportunity (if 
it were the will of God,) of benefiting the inhabit- 
ants of Shiraz, was never inaccessible to them. Strict 
as he was in the observance of the Sabbath, he ad- 
mitted them, even on that day, to speak with him, 
for he had learnt the import of those words, "I will 
have mercy and not sacrifice."— ^-In consequence, 
however, of his removal in the middle of the month 
of July, to a garden* in the suburbs of the city, 
where his kind host had pitched a tent for him, to 
relieve the tedium of confinement within the walls 
of Shiraz — he prosecuted the work before him un- 
interruptedly. 'Living amidst clusters of grapes by 
the side of a clear stream,' as he describes it, and 
frequently sitting under the shade of an orange tree, 
which Jaffier Ali Khan delighted to point out to 
visitors, until the day of his own departure, he pass- 
ed many a tranquil hour, and enjoyed many a Sab- 
bath of holy rest, and divine refreshment. Of one 
of these Sabbaths, he thus writes, July 14. — "The 
first Sabbath morning I have had to myself this long- 
time, and I spent it with comfort and profit. Read 
Isaiah chiefly, and hymns, which, as usual, brought 
to my remembrance the children of God in all parts 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 371 

of the earth; remembered, especially, dear * ## , as 
he desired me, on this his birth-day/' 

The day following this happy, though solitary, 
Sabbath, formed a contrast to its peaceful and sacred 
serenity — being the day of Mr. Martyn's first public 
controversy with the Mahometans. 

After some hesitation and demur, the Moojtuhid, 
or Professor of Mahometan Law, consented to a 
discussion upon religious topics. He was a man of 
great consequence in Shiraz, being the last authority 
in the decision of all matters connected with his 
profession; so that a contest with him, as it re- 
spected rank, prejudice, popularity, and reputation 
for learning, was manifestly an unequal one. Mr. 
Martyn, however, fearlessly engaged in it, knowing 
in whom he had believed. 

The subjoined is the account he has left of this 
disputation — if such indeed it can be called — for 
the Professor, it seems, could not so far forget his 
official dignity, as to dispute fairly and temperately 
— he preferred the easier task of dogmatising 
magisterially. 

"He first ascertained from Seid Ali, (said Mr. 
Martyn,) that I did not want demonstration, but ad- 
mitted that the prophets had been sent. So being 
a little easy at this assurance, he invited us to dinner. 
About eight o'clock at night we went, and after 
passing along many an avenue, we entered a fine 
court, where was a pond, and by the side of it a plat- 
form, eight feet high, covered with carpets. Here 



372 MEMOIR OF 

sat the Moojtuhid in state, with a considerable num- 
ber of his learned friends; among the rest, I per- 
ceived the Jew. One was at his prayers. 1 was 
never more disgusted at the mockery of this kind 
of prayer. He went through the evolutions with 
great exactness, and pretended to be unmoved at 
the noise and chit-chat of persons on each side of 
him. The Professor seated Seid Ali on his right 
hand, and me on his left. Every thing around bore 
the appearance of opulence and ease; and the swar- 
thy obesity of the little personage himself, led me 
to suppose that he had paid more attention to cook- 
ing than to science. But when he began to speak, 
J saw reason enough for his being so much admired. 
The substance of his speech was flimsy enough; but 
he spoke with uncommon fluency and clearness, and 
with a manner confident and imposing. He talked 
for a full hour about the soul, its being distinct from 
the body, superior to the brutes, &c.; about God, his 
unity, invisibility, and other obvious and acknowledg- 
ed truths. After this followed another discourse. 
So, after clearing his way for miles around, he said, 
'that philosophers had proved, that a single being 
could produce but a single being. That the first 
thing God had created was Wisdom — a being per- 
fectly one with him; after that, the souls of men and 
the seventh heaven; and so on, till he produced mat- 
ter, which is merely passive.' He illustrated the 
theory, by comparing all being to a circle: at one ex- 
tremity of the diameter is God; at the opposite ex- 



REV. HENRY MARTIN. 373 

tremity of the diameter is matter, than which noth- 
ing in the world is meaner. Rising from thence, the 
highest stage of matter is connected with the low- 
est stage of vegetation; the highest of the vegeta- 
ble world, with the lowest of the animal; and so 
on, till we approach the point from which all pro- 
ceeded. 'But, (said he.) you will observe, that 
next to God, something ought to be, which is equal 
to God; for since it is equally near, it possesses 
equal dignity. What this is, philosophers are not 
agreed upon. You,' said he, 'say it is Christ; but 
we, that it is the Spirit of the Prophets. All this 
is what the philosophers have proved, independently 
of any particular religion.' I rather imagined that 
it was the invention of some ancient Oriental Chris- 
tian, to make the doctrine of the Trinity appear 
more reasonable. There were a hundred things in 
the Professor's harangue that might have been 
excepted against, as mere dreams supported by no 
evidence, but I had no inclination to call in question 
dogmas, on the truth or falsehood of which, nothing 
in religion depended. 

"He was speaking, at one time, about the angels, 
and asserted that man was superior to them, and 
that no being greater than man could be created. 
Here the Jew reminded me of a passage in the 
Bible, quoting something in Hebrew. I was a little 
surprised, and was just about to ask, where he found 
any thing in the Bible, to support such a doctrine? 
when the Moojtuhid, not thinking it worth while to 
82 



374 MEMOIR OF 

pay any attention to what the Jew said, continued 
his discourse. At last the Jew grew impatient, and 
finding an opportunity of speaking, said to me, 'Why 
do not you speak? — Why do not you bring forward 
your objections?' The Professor, at the close of 
some of his long speeches, said to me, 'You see how 
much there is to be said on these subjects: several 
visits will be necessary; we must come to the point 
by degrees?' Perceiving how much he dreaded a 
close discussion, I did not mean to hurry him, but let 
him talk on, not expecting we should have any thing 
about Mahometanism the first night. But at the 
instigation of the Jew, I said, 'Sir, you see that Ab- 
doolghunee, is anxious that you should say something 
about Islam.' He w r as much displeased at being 
brought so prematurely to the weak point, but could 
not decline accepting so direct a challenge. 'Well,' 
said he to me, 'I must ask you a few questions. — 
Why do you believe in Christ?' I replied, 'That is 
not the question. I am at liberty to say, that I do 
not believe in any religion; that I am a plain man, 
seeking the way of salvation; that it was, moreover, 
quite unnecessary to prove the truth of Christ to 
Mahometans, because they allowed it.' 'No such 
thing,' said he. 'The Jesus we acknowledge is he 
who was a prophet, a mere servant of God, and 
one who bore testimony to Mahomet; not your 
Jesus, whom you call God,' said he, with a contemp- 
tuous smile. He then enumerated the persons who 
had spoken of the miracles of Mahomet, and told a 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. " 375 

lon>r story about Salmon, the Persian, who had come 
to Mahomet. I asked, 'whether this Salmon had 
written an account of the miracles he had seen? 5 
He confessed that he had not. 'Nor,' said I, 'have 
you a single witness to the miracles of Mahomet.' 
He then tried to shew, that though they had not, 
there was still sufficient evidence. 'For,' said he, 
'suppose five hundred persons should say that they 
heard some particular thing of a hundred persons 
who were with Mahomet: would that be sufficient 
evidence, or not?' 'Whether it be or not,' said I, 
'you have no such evidence as that, nor any thing 
like it; but if you have, as they are something like 
witnesses, we must proceed to examine them, and 
see whether their testimony deserves credit.' 

"After this, the Koran was mentioned; but as the 
company began to thin, and the great man had not a 
sufficient audience, before whom to display his el- 
oquence, the dispute was not so brisk. He did not, 
indeed, seem to think it worth while to notice my 
objections. He mentioned a well-known sentence 
from ihe Koran, as being inimitable. I produced 
another sentence, and begged to know why it was 
inferior to the Koranic one, He declined saying 
why, under pretence that it required such a knowl- 
edge of rhetoric, in order to understand his proofs, 
as probably I did not possess. A scholar afterwards 
came to Seid Ali, with twenty reasons for preferring 
Mahomet's sentence to mine. 



376 



MEMOIR OF 



<; It was midnight when dinner, or rather supper, 
was brought in: it was a sullen meal. The great 
man was silent; and I was sleepy. Seid Ali, how- 
ever, had not had enough. While burying his hand 
in the dish with the Professor, he softly mentioned 
some more of my objections. He was so vexed, 
that he scarcely answered any thing, but, after sup- 
per, told a very long story, all reflecting upon me. 
He described a grand assembly of Christians, Jews, 
Guebres, and Sabians, (for they generally do us the 
honor of stringing us with the other three,) before 
Iman Ruza. The Christians were of course defeat- 
ed and silenced. It was a remark of the Iman's, in 
which the Professor acquiesced, 'that it was quite 
useless for Mahometans and Christians to argue to- 
gether, as they had different languages and different 
histories.' To the last I said nothing; but to the 
former replied by relating the fable of the Lion and 
the Man, which amused Seid Ali so much, that he 
laughed out before the great man, and all the way 
home.-' 

So universal a spirit of inquiry had been excited 
in the city of Shiraz, by Mr. Martyn's frequent dis- 
putations, as well as by the notoriety of his being en- 
gaged in a translation of the New Testament into 
Persian, that the Preceptor of all the Moollahs began 
greatly to "fear whereunto this would grow." On 
the 26th of July, therefore, an Arabic defence of 
Mahometanism made its appearance from his pen. 
A considerable time had been spent in its pre para- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 



377 



tion, and on its seeing the light, it obtained the credit 
of surpassing ail former treatises upon Islam. 

This work, as far as a judgment of it can be 
formed from a translation, discovered amongst Mr. 
Martyn's papers, is written with much temper and 
moderation, and with as much candor as is con- 
sistent with that degree of subtilty, which is indis- 
pensable in an apology for so glaring an imposture 
as Mahometanism. 

The Chief Moollah begins by declaring his desire 
to avoid all altercation and wrangling, and ex- 
presses his hopes that God would guide into the 
right way those whom he chose. He then en- 
deavors, in the body of the work, to shew the 
superiority of the single perpetual miracle of the 
Koran, addressed to the understanding, above the 
variety of miracles wrought by Moses and by 
Christ, which were originally addressed only to 
the senses, and that these, from lapse of time, be- 
come every day less and less powerful in their 
influence. And he concludes with the following 
address to Mr. Martyn: — 

"Thus behold, then, O thou that art wise, and 
consider with the eye of justice, since thou hast no 
excuse to offer to God. Thou hast wished to see 
the truth of miracles. We desire you to look at 
the great Koran: that is an everlasting miracle." 

"This was finished by Ibraheem ben al Hosyn, 
after the evening of the second day of the week, 
the 23rd of the month Iemadi, the second in the 



378 MEMOIR OF 

year 1223 of the Hegira of the Prophet. On him 
who fled be a thousand salutations!" 

This work Mr. Martyn immediately set himself 
to refute, in dependence on his Savior to "give him 
a wisdom which his adversaries should not be able 
to gainsay." His answer was divided into two parts: 
the first was devoted principally to an attack upon 
Mahometanism: the second was intended to display 
the evidences and establish the authority of the 
Christian faith. It was written in Persian, and from 
a translation of the first part, which has been found, 
we perceive that Mr. Martyn, "having such hope, 
used great plainness of speech," whilst, at the same 
time, he treated his opponent with meekness and 
courtesy. 

After replying to the various arguments of Mirza 
Ibraheem, Mr. Martyn shews why men are bound 
to reject Mahometanism — that Mahomet was fore- 
told by no Prophet — that he worked no miracle— 
that he spread his religion by means merely human, 
and framed his precepts and promises to gratify 
merrs sensuality, both here and hereafter — that he 
was most ambitious both for himself and his family — 
that his Koran is full of gross absurdities and palpable 
contradictions — that it contains a method of salvation 
wholly inefficacious, which Mr. Martyn contrasted 
with the glorious and efficacious way of salvation 
held out in the Gospel, through the Divine Atone- 
ment of Jesus Christ. He concludes by addressing 
Mirza. Ibraheem in these words: — 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 379 

"I beg you to view these things with the eye of 
impartiality. If the evidence be indeed convincing, 
mind not the contempt of the ignorant, nor even 
death itself — for the vain world is passing away, like 
the wind of the desert. 

"If you do not see the evidence to be sufficient, 
my prayer is, that God may guide you; so that you, 
who have been a guide to men in the way you 
thought right, may now both see the truth, and call 
men to God, through Jesus Christ, 'who hath loved 
us, and washed us from our sins in his blood,' His 
Glory and Dominion be everlasting." 

Reverting to the Journal, we meet with the fol- 
lowing statements illustrative of the Persian charac- 
ter, and descriptive of the genius of Soofeism. From 
these, also, we discover that, notwithstanding indi- 
viduals were to be found in Shiraz, who professed 
Mahometanism without having imbibed the spirit of 
cruelty and extermination which belongs to it, that 
Mr. Martyn was nevertheless exposed there to per- 
sonal danger, and subjected to much contempt and 
many insults. — "July 29. — Mirza Ibraheem declared 
publicly, before all his disciples, Hhat if I really con- 
futed his arguments, he should be bound in con- 
science to become a Christian. Alas! from such 
a declaration, I have little hope. His general 
good character for uprightness, and unbounded kind- 
ness to the poor, would be a much stronger reason 
with me, for believing that he may be, perhaps, a 
Cornelius. 



380 MEMOIR OF 

"Aug. 2. — Much against his will, Mirza Ibraheem 
was obliged to go to his brother, who is Governor 
of some town, thirty-eight parasangs off. To the 
last moment he continued talking with his nephew, 
on the subject of his book, and begged, that in case 
of his detention, my reply might be sent to him. 

"Aug. 7. — My friends talked, as usual, much about 
what they call Divine Love; but I do not very well 
comprehend what they mean. They love not the 
Holy God, but the God of their own imagination — 
a God who will let them do as they please. 

"I often remind Seid Ali of one defect in his sys- 
tem, which is, that there is no one to stand between 
his sins and God. Knowing what I allude to, he 
says, 'Well, if the death of Christ intervene, no harm; 
Soofeism can admit this too.' 

"14. — Returned to the city in a fever, which con- 
tinued all the next day, until the evening. 

"15. — Jani Khan, in rank corresponding to one of 
our Scotch Dukes, as he is the head of all the mili- 
tary tribes of Persia, and Chief of his own tribe, 
which consists of twenty thousand families, called on 
Jaffier Ali Khan, with a message from the King. He 
asked me a great number of questions, and disputed 
a little. 'I suppose,' said he, 'you consider us all as 
Infidels?' 'Yes,' replied I, 'the whole of you.' He 
was mightily pleased with my frankness, and men- 
tioned it when he was going away. 

15 — 22. The copyist having shewn my answer 
to a Moodurris, called Moollah Acber, he wrote on 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 381 

the margin, with great acrimony, but little sense. 
Seid AH having shewn his remarks in some compa- 
nies, they begged him not to shew them to me, for 
fear I should disgrace them all, through the folly of 
one man. 

;i 23. — Ruza Cooli Mirza, the great grandson of 
Nadir Shah, and Aga Mahommed Hasan, called. 
The Prince's nephew, hearing of my attack on Ma- 
homet, observed, that the proper answer to it was — 
the sword; but the Prince confessed that he began 
to have his doubts. On his inquiring what were the 
laws of Christianity, meaning the number of times 
of prayer, the different washings, &c. I said, we 
had two commandments, 'Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God, with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all 
thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself.' He 
asked, 'what could be better?' and continued prais- 
ing them. 

"The Moollah, Aga Mahomed Hassan, himself a 
Mood urns, and a very sensible candid man, asked a 
good deal about the European philosophy, particu- 
larly what we did in metaphysics, for instance, 'how, 
or in what sense, the body of Christ ascended into 
heaven?' He talked of free will and fate, and rea- 
soned high, and at last reconciled them, according 
to the doctrines of the Soofies, by saying, 'that as 
all being is an emanation of the Deity, the will of 
every being ts only the will of the Deity; that there- 
fore, in fact, free-will and fate, were the same.' He 
has nothing to find fault with in Christianitv, but the 



382 MEMOIR OF 

Divinity of Christ. It is this doctrine that exposes 
me to the contempt of the learned Mahometans, in 
whom it is difficult to say whether pride or igno- 
rance predominates. Their sneers are more diffi- 
cult to bear, than the brickbats which the bovs 
sometimes throw at me: however, both are an honor 
of which I am not worthy. How many times in the 
day have I occasion to repeat the words, 

«If on my face, for thy dear name, 

Shame and reproaches be; 
AH hail reproach, and welcome shamei 

If Thou remember me.' 

"The more they wish me to give up one point — 
the Divinity of Christ, the more I seem to feel the 
necessity of it, and rejoice and glory in it. Indeed, 
I trust 1 would sooner give up my life than surreiv 
der it." 

The following account of an interview, to which 
Mr. Martyn was admitted, with the head of the sect 
of the Soofies, will interest those whose thoughts 
are turned towards the state of religion in the East: 
a large proportion of the city of Shiraz, it is com- 
puted, are either the secret or avowed disciples of 
Mirza Abulcasirn. Whenever "a great and effect- 
ual door" is opened for Christianity, "there are many 
adversaries." It is otherwise with a delusion con- 
genial to the "desires of the flesh and of the mind" 
in fallen man. Such a system, the God of this world 
is concerned to uphold rather than oppose. 



REV. HENRY MARTIN* 383 

"In the evening we went to pay a long promised 
visit to Mirza Abulcasim, one of the most renown- 
ed Soofies in all Persia. We found several persons 
sitting in an open court, in which a few greens and 
flowers were placed; the master in a corner, a very 
fresh looking old man, with a silver beard. I was 
surprised to observe the downcast sorrowful looks of 
the assembly, and still more at the silence that 
reigned. After sitting some time in expectation, and 
being not at all disposed to waste my time sitting 
there, I said softly to Seid Ali, 'What is this?' He 
said, 'It is the custom here, to think much and speak 
little.' 'May I ask the master a question?' said I. 
With some hesitation he consented to let me: so I 
begged Jaffier Ali to inquire, 'What is the way to be 
happy?' 

This he did in his own manner: he began by ob- 
serving, 'that there was a great deal of misery in 
the world, and that the learned shared as largely in 
it as the rest; that I wished, therefore, to know 
what we must do to escape it.' The master repli- 
ed, 'that, for his part, he did not know; but that it 
was usually said, the subjugation of the passions was 
the shortest way to happiness.' 

"After a considerable pause, I ventured to ask, 
•what were his feelings at the prospect of death — 
hope, fear, or neither?' 'Neither,' said he, and 'that 
pleasure and pain were both alike.' I then per- 
ceived that the Stoics were Greek Soofies. I asked, 
'whether he had attained this apathy?' He said, 



384 MEMOIR OF 

'No.' 'Why do you think it attainable?' He could 
not tell. 'Why do you think that pleasure and pain 
are not the same?' said Seid Ali, taking his master's 
part. 'Because,' said I, 'I have the evidence of my 
senses lor it. And you also act as if there was a dif- 
ference. Why do you eat, but that you fear pain?' 
These silent sages sat unmoved. One of the disci- 
ples is the son of the Moojtuhid, who, greatly to the 
vexation of his father, is entirely devoted to the 
Soofi Doctor. He attended his calean with the 
utmost humility. On observing the pensive counte- 
nance of the young man, and knowing something of 
his historv from Seid Ali, how he had left all to find 
happiness in the contemplation of God, I longed to 
make known the glad tidings of a Savior, and thank- 
ed God, on coming away, that I was not left ignorant 
of the Gospel. I could not help being a little pleas- 
ant on Seid Ali, afterwards, for his admiration of 
this silent instructor. 'There you sit, (said I,) im- 
mersed in thought, full of anxiety and care, and will 
not take the trouble to ask whether God has said 
any thing or not. No: that is too easy and direct a 
way of coming to the truth. I compare you to spi- 
ders, who weave their house of defence out of their 
own bowels, or to a set of people who are groping 
for a light in broad day.' " 

Mr. Martyn's mathematical acquirements were to 
him invaluable, inasmuch as they gave him that habit 
of patient and persevering study, which was sancti- 
fied in the application of his powers to the highest 



KEY. HENRY MARTYN. 385 

ends and purposes. There were also occasions, in 
which this, and other sciences, were of service to (he 
cause he had at heart, by procuring tor him that at- 
tention and respect, which learning ever secures in 
countries where the light of civilization shines, 
though but faintly and imperfectly. Of this we 
have an instance in the following account. — "26. — 
Waited this morning on Mahommed Nubee Khan, 
late Ambassador at Calcutta, and now Prime Minis- 
ter of Fars. There were a vast number of clients 
in his court, with whom he transacted business while 
chatting with us. Amongst the others who came 
and sat with us, was my tetric adversary, Aga Acber, 
who came for the very purpose of presenting the 
Minister with a little book he had written in answer 
to mine. After presenting it in due form, he sat 
down, and told me he meant to bring me a copy that 
day — a promise he did not perform, through Seid 
Ali's persuasion, who told him it was a performance 
that would do him no credit. Aga Acber gave me 
a hint respecting its contents, namely, that there 
were four answers to my objections to Mahometans 
using the sword. 

"He then, without any ceremony, began to ques- 
tion me, before the company, (there were more than 
fifty in the hall, and crowds in front* all listening,) 
about the European philosophy, and brought objec- 
tions against the world's motion, with as much 
spleen as if he had an estate he was afraid would 
run away from him. As it was a visit of mere 
33 



386 MEMOIR OF 

ceremony, I was not a little surprised and looked at 
the Minister, to know if it would not be a breach 
of good manners to dispute at such a time; but it 
seems there was nothing contrary to costume, as he 
rather expected my answer. I explained our sys- 
tem to Aga Acber, but there were many things not 
to be understood without diagrams; so a scribe in 
waiting was ordered to produce his implements, and 
I was obliged to shew him, first, the sections of the 
cone, and how a body revolves in an eclipse round 
the sun in one focus, &c. He knew nothing of 
mathematics, as I suspected, so it was soon found 
useless to proceed — he comprehended nothing. 

"On my return, Jaffier Ali Khan and Mirza Seid 
Ali, requested me to explain to them my proofs. 
I did my best; but there were so many things 
they were obliged to take for granted, that all my 
endeavors were to little purpose. So much Mirza 
Seid Ali comprehended, that the hypothesis of a 
force, varying inversely as the square of the dis- 
tance, was sufficient to account for every phenome- 
non, and therefore, according to the rules of phi- 
losophy, a more complex hypothesis was not to be 
admitted. This he had sense enough to see." 

There is something so estimable in the character 
of Mr. Martyn's opponent, Mirza Ibraheem, that it 
will not fail to secure the attention of the reader, 
in perusing the subjoined relation of the effect pro- 
duced on his mind, by Mr. Martyn's defence of 
Christianity and attack upon Mahometanism. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 387 

"29th. — Mirza Ibraheem begins to inquire about 
the Gospel. The objections he made were such 
as these: How sins could be atoned for, before they 
were committed? Whether, as Jesus died for all 
men, all would necessarily be saved? If Faith be 
the condition of salvation^ would wicked Christians 
be saved, provided they believe? I was pleased 
to see, from the nature of the objections, that 
he was considering the subject. To his last 
objection, I remarked, 'that to those who felt them- 
selves sinners, and came to God for mercy, through 
Christ, God would give the Holy Spirit, which would 
progressively sanctify them in heart and life.' 

«30. — Mirza Ibraheem praises my answer, espe- 
cially the first part." 

Mr. Martyn's mind, we have had frequent occa- 
sion to notice, closed as it was against trilling vani- 
ties, was ever open and alive to many of those sub- 
jects, which arrest the attention and interest the 
curiosity of men of science and research, and which 
form one great source of intellectual gratifications. 
Whilst the moral depravity of Shiraz chiefly occu- 
pied his thoughts, and excited his commiseration, 
he could find also a mournful pleasure in musing 
over the fallen grandeur of Persepolis. 

He has left the following observations and re- 
flections, on visiting those celebrated remains of an- 
tiquity. 

"I procured two horsemen, as guards, from the 
Minister, and set off about two hours before sun- 



;388 MEMOIR OF 

set. At a station of Rahdars we fed the horses, 
and then continued our course, through a most dis- 
mal country, till midnight, when we entered a vast 
plain, and two or three hours before day crossed the 
Araxes, by a bridge of three arches, and coming in 
sight of the ruins, waited for the day. I laid down 
upon the bare ground, but it was too cold to sleep. 
When the sun rose, we entered. My guards and 
servant had not the smallest curiosity to see ruins; 
and therefore, the moment they mounted the ter- 
race, they laid down and all fell asleep. These 
people cannot imagine why Europeans come to see 
these ruins. One of them said to me, 'A nice place, 
Sahib; good air and a fine garden; you may carry 
brandy, and drink there at leisure.' Thus he united, 
as he thought, the two ingredients of human happi- 
ness — the European enjoyment of drinking, and the 
Persian one of straight walks, cypress trees, and 
muddy water in a square cistern. One of my guards 
was continually reminding me, on my way thither, 
that it was uninhabited. Finding me still persist, he 
imagined that my object must be to do something 
there in secret, and accordingly, after I had satisfied 
my curiosity, and was coming away, he plainly ask* 
ed me, whether I had been drinking — observing, 
perhaps, my eyes, red with cold and want of sleep. 
When I gravely told them, that drunkenness was 
as great a sin with us as with them, they altered 
their tone, and said, wine was not only unlawful, but 
odious and filthy. 



REV. HEtfRY MARTYN. 389 

"After traversing these celebrated ruins, I must 
say, that I felt a little disappointed: they did not at 
all answer ray expectation. — The architecture of 
the ancient Persians, seems to be much more akin 
to that of their clumsy neighbors, the Indians, 
than to that of the Greeks. I saw no appearance 
of grand design any where. The chapiters of the 
columns were almost as long as the shafts — though 
they were not so represented in Niebuhr's plate. 
I saw his name there: and the mean little passages 
into the square court, or room, or whatever it was 
make it very evident that the taste of the Orientals 
was the same three thousand years ago as it is now 

"But it was impossible not to recollect that here 
Alexander and his Greeks passed and repassed — 
here they sat, and sung, and revelled; now all i 



is 



silence — generation on generation lie mingled with 
the dust of their mouldering edifices: — 

'Alike the busy and the gay 
But flutter in life's busy day, 
In fortune's varying colors dress'd.' 

"From the ruins I rode off to a neighboring vil- 
lage, the head man of which, at the Minister's 
order, paid me every attention. At sunset, we set 
out on our return, and lost our way. As I par- 
ticularly remarked where we entered the plains, I 
pointed out the track, which afterwards proved to 
be right; but my opinion was overruled, and we 
gallopped farther and farther away. Meeting, at 
last, with some villagers, who were passing the night 
*33 



390 MEMOIR OF 

at their threshing 5oor in the field, we were set 
right. They then conceived so high an idea of my 
geographical skill, that, as soon as we recrossed the 
Araxes, they begged me to point out the Keblah to 
them, as they wanted to pray. After setting their 
faces towards Mecca, as nearly as I could, I went 
and sat down on the margin, near the bridge, where 
the water falling over some fragments of the bridge 
under the arches, produced a roar, which, contrast- 
ed with the stillness all around, had a grand effect. 
Here I thought again of the multitudes who had 
once pursued their labors and pleasures on its 
banks. Twenty-one centuries have passed away 
since they lived: how short, in comparison, must be 
the remainder of my days. — What a momentary 
duration is the life of man! Labiiur et labetur in 
omne volubilis cevum* may be affirmed of the river; 
but men pass away as soon as they begin to exist. 
Well, let the moments pass — 

'They'll waft us sooner o'er 

This life's tempestuous sea, 
And land us on the peaceful shore 
Of bless'd Eternity.' 

"The Mahometans having finished their prayers, 
I mounted my horse, and pursued my way over the 
plain. We arrived at the station of the Rahdars so 
early, that we should have been at Shiraz before 
the gates were open, so we halted. I put my head 
into a poor corner of the caravansara, and slept 

* It Jio-ws and will continue to flow to all future jimes. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 



391 



soundly upon the hard stone, till the rising sun bid 
us continue our course. 

"One of my guards was a pensive romantic sort of 
a man, as far as Eastern men can be romantic, that 
is, he is constantly reciting love verses. He often 
broke a long silence by a sudden question of this 
sort: 'Sir, what is the chief good of life?' I replied, 
'The love of God.' 'What next?' 'The love of 
man.' 'That is,' said he, 'to have men love us, or to 
love them?' 'To love them.' He did not seem to 
agree with me. Another time he asked, 'Who were 
the worst people in the world?' — I said, 'Those who 
know their duty and do not practice it.' At the 
house where I was entertained, they asked me the 
question, which the Lord once asked, 'What think 
ye of Christ?' I generally tell them, at first, what 
they expect to hear, 'The son of God;' but this time 
I said, 'The same as you say — the Word of God.' 
'Was he a prophet?' 'Yes, in some sense, he was a 
Prophet; but what it chiefly concerns us to know, he 
was an Atonement for the sins of men.' Not under- 
standing this, they made no reply. 'What did I 
think of the soul; was it out of the body, or in the 
body?' I supposed the latter. 'No,' they said, 'it was 
neither the one nor the other; but next to, and the 
mover of, the body.' 

The details Mr. Martyn gives of the fast of 
Ramazan, which he witnessed on his return to 
Shiraz, whilst they shew that he was far from be- 
ing an inobservent spectator of what was passing 



392 MEMOIR OF 

around him, afford a striking view of the interior of 
Mahometanism. — We plainly discover from them 
that a love for particular popular preachers — a fiery 
zeal in religion — a vehement excitation of the ani- 
mal feelings, as well as rigid austerities — are false 
criterions of genuine piety — for we see all these in 
their full perfection amongst the real followers of 
the Crescent, as well as amongst the pretended dis- 
ciples of the Cross. 

"Sept. 20. (First day of the fast of Ramazan.)— 
All the family had been up in the night, to take an 
unseasonable meal, in order to fortify themselves 
for the abstinence of the day. It was curious to 
observe the effects of the fast in the house. The 
master was scolding and beating his servants; they 
equally peevish and insolent; and the beggars more 
than ordinarily importunate and clamorous. At noon, 
all the city went to the grand Mosque. My host 
came back with an account of new vexations there. 
He was chatting with a friend, near the door, when 
a great preacher, Hagi Mirza, arrived, with hundreds 
of followers. 'Why do you not say your prayers?' 
said the new comers to the two friends. 'We have 
finished,' said they. 'Well,' said the others, 'if you 
cannot pray a second time with us, you had better 
move out of the way.' — Rather than join such tur- 
bulent zealots, they retired. The reason of this 

unceremonious address was, that these loving disci- 

. . . 

pies had a desire to pray ail in a row with their 

master, which, it seem?, is the custom. There is 






REV. HENRY MARTIN. 393 

bo public service in the Mosques; every man there 
prays for himself. 

"Coming out of the Mosque, some servants of the 
Prince, for their amusement, pushed a person against 
a poor man's stall, on which were some things for 
sale, a few European and Indian articles, also some 
valuable Warsaw plates, which were thrown down 
and broken. The servants went off, without making 
compensation. No Cazi will hear a complaint 
against the Prince's servants. 

"Hagi Mahomed Hassan preaches every day 
during the Ramazan. He takes a verse from the 
Koran, or more frequently tells stories about the 
I mans. If the ritual of the Christian Churches, 
their good forms, and every thing they have, is a 
mere shadow, without the power of truth; what 
must all this Mahometan stuff be? though, how 
impossible to convince the people of the world, 
whether Christian or Mahometan, that what they 
call religion, is merely a thing of their own, having 
no connexion with God and his Kingdom. This sub- 
ject has been much on my mind lately. How sense- 
less the zeal of Churchmen against Dissenters, and 
of Dissenters against the Church! The Kingdom 
of God is neither meat, nor drink, nor any thing per* 
ishable; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
Holy Ghost. 

"Mirza Ibraheem never goes to the Mosque, but 
he is so much respected, that nothing is said: they 
conclude that he is employed in devotion at home. 



394 MEMOIR OF 

Some of his disciples said to Seid Ali, before him, 
'Now the Ramazan is come, you should read the Ko- 
ran, and leave the Gospel.' 'No,' said his uncle, 'he is 
employed in a good work; let him go ou with it.' 
The old man continues to inquire with interest about 
the Gospel, and is impatient for his nephew to 
explain the evidences of Christianity, which I have 
drawn up. 

"22. — Sunday. — My friends returned from the 
Mosque, full of indignation at what they had witness^ 
ed there. The former Governor of Bushire com- 
plained to the Vizier, in the Mosque, that some of 
his servants had treated him brutally. The Vizier, 
instead of attending to his complaint, ordered them 
to do their work a second time; which they did, 
kicking and beating him with their slippers, in the 
most ignominious way, before all the Mosque. This 
unhappy people groan under the tyranny of their 
governors; yet nothing subdues or tames them. 
Happy Europe how has God favored ali the sons of 
Japheth, by persuading them to embrace the Gospel. 
How dignified are ad the nations of Europe com- 
pared with this nation! Yet the people are Clevel- 
and intelligent, and more calculated to become great 
•and powerful, than any of the nations of the East, 
had they a good Government, and the Christian 
religion. 

"24—29. The Soofie, son of the Moojtuhid, 
with some others, came to see me. For fifteen 
vears he was a devout Mahometan; visited the 






REV. HENRY MARTYN. 395 

sacred places, and said many prayers. Finding no 
benefit from austerities, he threw up Mahometanism 
altogether, and attached himself to the Soofie Mas- 
ter. 

"I asked him, what his object was, all that time? 
He said, 'he did not know, but he was unhappy.' I 
began to explain to him the Gospel, but he cavilled 
at it, as much as any bigotted Mahometan could do, 
and would not hear of there being any distinction 
between Creator and creature. In the midst of our 
conversation, the sun went down, and the company 
vanished.* 

"Aga Baba was also for many years a zealous Ma- 
hometan, often passing whole nights in prayer. His 
father, who had at first encouraged his religious pro- 
pensities, found them at last so troublesome, that he 
was obliged to leave the house, not being able to get 
sleep for the noise his son made in prayer. Finding, 
after many years, that he was growing more and 
more proud and contemptuous, he could ascribe it 
to nothing but his prayers, and therefore, from pure 
conscientious motives, left them off. 

"Jaffier Ali Khan was also once a great sayer of 
prayers, and regularly passed every afternoon, for 
fourteen years, in cursing the worshippers of Omar, 
according to a prescribed form; but perceiving that 
these zealous maledictions brought no blessing to 
himself, he left them off, and now just prays for 

*<Thi3 was for the purpose of taking an immediate repast, 



396 MEMOIR OF 

form's sake. His wife says her prayers regularly 
five times a day, and is always up before sun-rise, 
for the first prayer. 

"Mirza Seid Aii seems sometimes coming round 
to Christianity, against Soofeism. The Soofies be- 
lieve in no prophet, and do not consider Moses as 
equal to Mirza Abulcasim. — 'Could they be brought,' 
Seid Ali says, 'to believe there has been a prophet, 
they would embrace Christianity.' And what would 
be gained by such converts? 'Thy people shall be 
willing in the day of thy power.' It will be an 
afflicted and poor people that shall call upon the 
name of the Lord, and such the Soofies are not: 
professing themselves to be wise, they have become 
fools. 

"Oct. 1. — Thousands every day assemble at the 
Mosque; it is quite a lounge with them. Each, as 
soon as he has said his prayers, sits down and talks 
to his friend. The multitude press to hear Hagi 
Mahomed Hasan. One day they thronged him so 
much, that he made some error in his prostrations. 
This put him into such a passion, that he swore that 
Omar's curse might come upon him, if he preached 
to them again. However, a day or two after, he 
thought better of it. This preacher is famous for 
letting out his money to interest; and, therefore, in 
spite of his eloquence, he is not very popular. 
About two years ago, Shekh Jaffler came here and 
preached. 'The Persians are all murderers! adul- 
terers!' 'What does the Shekh mean?' said his fol- 



REV. HENRY MARTYR 397 

lowers. 'Why,' said he, 'the Persians take usury; 
and he that does that, is worse than a murderer or 
adulterer.' 

"7. — I was surprised by a visit from the great 
Soofie Doctor, who, while most of the people were 
asleep, came to me for some wine. I plied him 
with questions innumerable; but he returned noth- 
ing but incoherent answers, and sometimes no an- 
swer at all. — Having laid aside his turban, he put on 
his night-cap, and soon fell asleep upon the carpet. 
Whilst he lay there, his disciples came, but would 
not believe, when I told them who was there, till 
they came and saw the sage asleep. When he 
awoke, they came in, and seated themselves at the 
greatest possible distance, and were all as still as in 
a church. 

'•The real state of this man seems to be despair, 
and it is well if it does not end in madness. I 
preached to him the Kingdom of God: mentioning, 
particularly, how I had found peace from the Son 
of God and the Spirit of God; through the first, 
forgiveness; through the second, sanctification. He 
said it was good, but said it with the same unconcern 
with which he admits all manner of things, howev- 
er contradictory. Poor soul! he is sadly bewildered. 

"At a garden, called Shah Chiragh, in which is 
the tomb of a brother of one of the Imans, who 
was killed on the spot, a miracle is wrought every 
Ramazan. The Mootuwulli, or proprietor of the 
garden, in whose familv it has been for ages, finds 
34 



398 MEMOIR OF 

its supposed sanctity abundantly profitable, as he is 
said to make 2,000/. a year of it. To keep alive the 
zeal of the people, who make their offerings there 
every day, he procures a villager, who is at first 
sick, and crying to Ali for help; and then, on the,ap- 
pointed day, recovers. This year a man was recov- 
ered of the palsy, and our servants came full of it. 
Though this farce is played off every year, the sim- 
pletons are never undeceived. Presents of sheep, 
fowls, sweetmeats, money, flowed in upon the Moo- 
tuwulli, who skilfully turned all to the best advan- 
tage. Those who wished to see the man's face, 
were to pay so much; those who were anxious to 
touch him, were to pay so much more; and so on. 

."Two days in the Ramazan, tragedies were act- 
ed at our house, in the women's court. Two or 
three men, dressed in the Khan's court robes, spout- 
ed and sung for an hour, before an immense con- 
course of women, all veiled. The subject, the first 
day, was tne death of Mahomet; the second, that 
of I man Hosyn. 

"18. — The Ramazan ended, or ought to have 
ended, but the moon disappointed them. The 
Moollahs, not having seen the new moon would not 
allow the fast to be over, and the people were, in 
consequence, all in confusion; for not having eaten 
in the night, they were not at all disposed to go 
through the day fasting. At last some witnesses 
appeared, who vowed they had seen the silver bow. 
These were from the Prince; but the Moollahs said 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 399 

they would not admit them till seventy-two of the 
same kind bore the same testimony. This was no 
great number for a Prince to produce; so the seven- 
ty-two appeared, and the feast was proclaimed." 

Towards the end of November, great progress 
having been made in the Persian translation of the 
New Testament, Mr. Martyn ordered two splendid 
copies of it to be prepared, designing to present the 
one to the King of Persia; and the other to Prince 
Abbas Mirza, his son. It being now also his fixed 
intention to pass the winter at Shiraz, he resolved to 
commence another eminently useful, and to him most 
delightful, work — a version of the Psalms of David, 
into Persian, from the original Hebrew. The 
Divine Songs of Sion became thus the subject of his 
critical examination, close meditation, and frequent 
prayer; and whilst engaged in this sacred employ- 
ment, often did he find his soul elevated, and his 
spirit refreshed, "in a strange land." 

The events of the last month of the year stand 
thus recorded in his Journal. 

"Dec. 3. — -Attended the lecture of Aga Mahomed 
Hasan. He read and commented on three books 
of metaphysics, and at intervals conversed with me. 
Amongst other things, we discussed the cause of the 
ascent of a light body in a fluid. Our argument 
came, at Last, to this — that if one particle of fluid were 
en another, it would, from its gravity, move ever 
horizontally off, in order to be nearer the centre. 
'If,' said he, 'a body can move towards the centre 



400 MEMOIR OF 

only directly, how do you account for its falling down 
an inclined plane?' I began to explain the composition 
and resolution of forces, but some disciples coming in, 
he could not stay to hear what I had to say, but 
went on with his lecture. At one time he asked me 
some questions about genera and species. 

"6. — Aga Boozong, and his disciple, Aga Ali, a 
Mede, came, and sat many hours. The former, 
from lore to the Gospel, as he said, desired a friend 
at Isfahan to send him Luke's Gospel, translated 
from the Arabic. He asked me about the Trinity, 
and said, 'that for himself, he had no objection to 
the doctrine.' So say all the Soofies, but they will 
only concede to Jesus, a nature, which they conceive 
to belong to all the Prophets, and all the illumined. 
He stated his sentiments: I asked for reasons, but 
asked in vain. 'Proofs,' he said, 'were cobwebs — a 
breath broke them: nothing but a divine teacher 
could make known the mystery.' Aga Ali, in order 
to prove to me that proofs were nothing, adduced 
the instance of Matthew the publican, who rose at 
the call of Christ, without seeing a miracle. They 
were fond of producing what they knew of the Gos- 
pel, in confirmation of their mystic themes. The 
Atonement they would not hear of, because the 
Mahometans pretended, in the same way, that Ho- 
syn was sacrificed for the sins of men. Thus Satan 
has contrived Mahometanism with more craft than 
at first appears: for the impostor of Mecca, by 
making common cause with the Prophets of God, 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 401 

lias taken care, that if any forsake him, they shall 
at the same time, forsake the messengers of God; 
of whom they know nothing but just what he tells 
them — which is far enough from the truth. 

"8. — The Soofies breakfasted with me, Aga 
Boozong talked dogmatically about the unity of all 
being, and quoted large portions from the Munari of 
Mouluwee Room. Another part of the conversa- 
tion was about India. — The Soofies consider all the 
Brahmins as philosophers of the same school with 
themselves. One of them asked me gravely, 'wheth- 
er I had met with any in whom was the Holy Ghost?' 
This, he supposed, was only the way of expressing 
what they meant by being enlightened. 

"12. — Letters at last from India. — Mirza Seid 
AH was curious to know in what way w-e corres- 
ponded, and made me read Mr. Brown's letter to 
me, and mine to Corrie. He took care to let his 
friends know that w T e wrote nothing about our own 
affairs. It was all about translations and the cause 
of Christ: with this he was delighted. 

"16. — In translating 2 Cor. i. 'Given the earnest 
of the Spirit in our hearts,' he was much struck 
when it was explained to him. 'O that I had it,' 
said he; 'have you received it?' I told him, that as 
I had no doubt of my acceptance through Christ, I 
concluded that I had. Once before, on the words, 
'who are saved,' he expressed his surprise at the 
confidence with which Christians spoke of salvation. 
On 1 Cor. xi, he observed, 'that the doctrine of the 
*34 



402 MEMOIR OF 

resurrection of the body was not so unreasonable, 
but that as the Mahometans understood it, it was 
impossible, on which account the Soofies rejected it.' 

"Christ mas-day. — I made a great feast for the 
Russians and Armenians, and, at Jaffier Ali Khan's 
request, invited the Soofie Master, with his disciples. 
I hoped there would be some conversation on the 
occasion of our meeting, and indeed Mirza Seid Ali 
did make some attempts, and explained to the old 
man the meaning of the Lord's Supper; but the 
sage maintaining his usual silence, the subject was 
dropped. 

"I expressed my satisfaction at seeing them as- 
sembled on such an occasion, and my hope that 
they would remember the day on succeeding years; 
and that though they would never see me again on 
succeeding years, that they would not forget that I had 
brought them the Gospel. The old man coldly re- 
plied, 'that God would guide those whom he chose.' 
Most of the time they continued was before dinner; 
the moment that was despatched, they rose up, and 
went away. The custom is, to sit five or six hours 
before dinner, and at great men's houses singers 
attend. 

«27. — Carapet invited me this evening to his 
wedding; but just before the guests were to have 
assembled, the Darogha's servants seized his father- 
in-law, and carried him away to be bastinadoed, or 
else to pay five hundred piastres. It seems he had 
given a bond to that amount, in case he ever sold 



REV. HENRY MARTY N. 403 

wine to Mahometans, and yesterday he was de- 
tected in the act. Jaffier Ali Khan wrote, in my 
name, to the Vizier, to request his release. The 
Vizier replied, that Carapet, for my sake, should 
not be molested, but that the other man had forfeit- 
ed his money, and, in evidence, sent his bond. Find- 
ing that it was not a piece of villainy on the part of 
Government, as I apprehended, I declined having 
any thing to do in the business; the law might take 
its course. But Jaffier Alt Khan begged as a favor 
of the servant of the Vizier, who had formerly been 
a servant of his, to represent the matter in such a 
light to his master, as to excite his compassion. 
After he was gone away, the Armenians came in 
great numbers, and begged I would procure the 
pardon of the poor man, and had obtained a promise 
from me to this effect, when the servant came back 
with the poor Greek, and said, that the Vizier had 
released him, and forgiven him the forfeit, for my 
sake. The Armenians were in ecstasies of joy, and 
did not know how enough to express their gratitude 
to me, though it was rather due to Jaffier Ali Khan. 
I was unable to attend the wedding from a cough, 
which made it unsafe to be out at night. They sat 
up all night, according to the Armenian custom, 
eating and drinking, and about two hours before 
day went to Church, where the marriage was sol- 
emnized: the feasting continues two days longer. 

"On the strength of the narrow escape the 
Greek experienced, some of the Vizier's servants 



404 MEMOIR OF 

came, the day after, to feast themselves at his ex- 
pense. They first called for a calean, which \va- 
brought them; then for the wine he had promised 
them, though he had promised none. This un- 
fortunate people have been visited almost like the 
Jews. When will the Lord pity them! An Ar- 
menian, if he gets a new coat, makes the sleeves 
of patches, as he will be sure to have it taken from 
him if it looks new. Carapet was insulted, for 
being a little better dressed than they thought a 
Christian ought to be. 

"31. — The accounts of the desolations of war 
during the last year, which I have been reading in 
some Indian newspapers make the world appear 
more gloomy than ever. How many hurried into 
eternity unprepared! How many thousands of wid- 
ows and orphans left to mourn! But admire, my soul, 
the matchless power of God, that out of this ruin 
he has prepared for Himself an inheritance. At 
last the scene shall change, and I shall find myself 
in a world where all is love." 

The early part of the year 1812, that year in which 
Mr. Martyn "rested from his labors," and "found 
himself in a world where all was love, was ushered 
in by him in the following strain of singular pathos 
and piety: "The last has been, in some respects, a 
memorable year. I have been led, by what I have 
reason to consider as the particular providence of 
God, to this place, and undertaken an important 
work, which has gone on without material interrup- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 405 

tion, and is now nearly finished. I like to find myself 
employed usefully, in a way I did not expect or fore- 
see, especially if my own will is in any degree cross- 
ed by the work unexpectedly assigned me; as there is 
then reason to believe that God is acting. The 
present year will probably be a perilous one; but 
my life is of little consequence, whether I live ta 
finish the Persian New Testament, or do not. I 
look back with pity and shame upon my former self, 
when I attached importance to my life and labors. 
The more I see of my works, the more I am ashamed 
of them. Coarseness and clumsiness mar all the 
works of man. I am sick, when I look at man, and 
his wisdom, and his doings, and am relieved only by 
reflecting, that we have a city, whose builder and 
maker is God. The least of his works here it is re- 
freshing to look at. A dried leaf, or a straw, makes 
me feel myself in good company: complacency and 
admiration take place of disgust. 

"I compare, with pain, our Persian translation 
with the original; to say nothing of the precision 
and elegance of the sacred text, its perspicuity is 
that which sets at defiance all attempts to equal it." 

In the succeeding portion of Mr. Martyn's Jour- 
nal, we are presented with a statement, whence it is 
scarcely possible not to infer that the civil govern- 
ment of Persia is in a condition of extreme weakness 
and wretchedness. 

"15. — I went with Jaflier Ali Khan, to see the 
College. It is almost in ruins, not having been re- 



406 



K3K0IR OF 



paired these two hundred years. It contains sixty 
or seventy sets of rooms, in many of which we ob- 
served teachers and scholars, giving and hearing- 
lectures. It was formerly richly endowed: but the 
rapacity of the Kings has stripped it of every thing; 
only a small stipend was allowed to the principal 
teachers. Near it is an octagonal caravansara, 
w 7 here goods were formerly exposed to sale, and a 
tax levied, which was appropriated to the College, 
but this is nearly gone. The way of laying out 
money at this time, is to build a caravansara, for 
merchants to lodge their goods in, and expose them 
to sale. In this way they make about fifteen per 
cent.; but these ware-houses are heavily taxed by 
Government. 

"We called on several people; among the rest, 
on Mirza Abulcasim Kalanter, a man of large land- 
ed property, who w T as very courteous. Conversa- 
tion, as usual, about the happiness of India and Eng- 
land. 

"We called on Aea Boozona;, an old man of nine- 
ty^ whose house, or rather college, is an asylum; for 
he is so venerated, that even the Vizier dare not 
drag an offender thence. A poor ragged fellow 
came while we were there, and said the Vizier had 
sent him. 'Go and tell the Vizier,' said he, 'to 
knock his head against the pavement, and not send 
such messages to me.' 

"A poor blind man, we met begging, the Khan 
pointed out to me, as one who formerly was a gen- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 407 

eral, and one of Kureen Khan's family; but, by a 
change of dynasty, had lost his eyes. Nobody took 
any notice of him." 

Who can read some of the ensuing remarks with- 
out discovering how abundantly those words of our 
Savior were verified in Mr. Martyn — "neither pray 
I for these alone, but for them also which shall be- 
lieve on me through their word. That they all 
may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, 
that they also may be one in us, that the world may 
believe that thou hast sent me." John xvii, 20, 21. 

"16. — Mirza Seid Ali told me accidentally, to-day, 
of a distich made by his friend Mirza Koochut, at 
Tehran, in honor of a victory obtained by Prince 
Abbas Mirza, over the Russians. The sentiment 
was, that he had killed so many of the Christians, 
that Christ, from the fourth heaven, took hold of 
Mahomet's skirt, to intreat him to desist. I was 
cut to the soul at this blasphemy. In prayer, I 
could think of nothing else but that great day when 
the Son of God should come in the clouds of heaven, 
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and 
convince men of all their hard speeches which they 
have spoken against him. 

"Mirza Seid Ali perceived that I was considera- 
bly disordered, and was sorry for having repeated 
the verse, but asked, what it was that was so offen- 
sive? I told him, 'I could not endure existence, if 
Jesus was not glorified; that it would be hell to me, 
if he were to be always thus dishonored.' He was 



408 MEMOIR OP 

astonished, and again asked why? 'H any one pluck 
out your eyes (I replied,) there is no saying why 
you feel pain — it is feeling. It is because I am one 
with Christ that I am thus dreadfully wounded.' 
On his again apologizing, I told him, 'that I rejoiced 
at what had happened, inasmuch as it made me 
feel nearer the Lord than ever. It is when the 
head or heart is struck, that every member feels its 
membership.' This conversation took place while 
we were translating. In the evening, he mentioned 
the circumstance of a young man's being murdered — 
a fine athletic youth, whom I had often seen in the 
garden. Some acquaintance of his, in a slight quar- 
rel, plunged a dagger in his breast. Observing me 
look sorrowful, he asked why. 'Because,' said I, 
'he was cut off in his sins, and had no time to repent.' 
'It is just in that way,' said he, 'that I should like to 
die; not dragging out a miserable existence on a 
sick bed, but transported at once to another state.' 
I observed, 'It was not desirable to be hurried into 
the immediate presence of God.' 'Do you think,' 
said he, 'that there is any difference between the 
presence of God here and there?' 'Indeed I do,* 
said I. 'Here we see through a glass darkly; but 
there, face to face.' He then entered into some 
metaphysical Soofie disputation, about the identity 
of sin and holiness, heaven and hell; to all which I 
made no reply." 

The subjoined conversation, into which Mr. Mar- 
tyn was led, exhibits the ignorance of the natural 



REV. HENRY MARTVN. 409 

man, and the knowledge of the spiritual man, in 
striking contrast. 

"18. — Aga Ali, of Media, came, and with him and 
Mirza Ali, I had a long and warm discussion about 
the essentials of Christianity. The Mede, seeing 
us at work upon the Epistles, said, 'he should be 
glad to read them; as for the Gospels, they were 
nothing but tales, which were of no use to him; for 
instance, (said he,) if Christ raised four hundred 
dead to life, what is that t6 me?' I said, 'It cer- 
tainly was of importance, for his works were a rea- 
son for our depending upon his words. 'What did 
he say,' asked he, 'that was not known before: 
the love of God, humility — who does not know 
these things?' 'Were these things,' said I, 'known 
before Christ, either among Greeks or Romans, 
notwithstanding their philosophy?' They averred, 
that the Hindoo book Juh contained precepts of this 
kind. I questioned its antiquity; 'but, however that 
be,' I added r 'Christ came not to teach, so much as 
to die; the truths I spoke of, as confirmed by his 
miracles, were those relating to his person, such 
as-— 'Come unto me, all that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest.' Here Mirza Seid 
Ali told him, that I had professed to have no 
doubt of my salvation. He asked, what I meant? 
I told him, 'that though sin still remained, I was 
assured that it should not regain dominion; and 
that I should never come into condemnation, but 
was accepted in the beloved.' Not a little sur- 
35 



410 MEMOIR OF 

prised, he asked Mirza Seid Ali, whether he 
comprehended this? 'No,' said he, 'nor Mirza 
Ibraheem, to whom I mentioned it.' The Mede, 
again turning to me, asked, 'How do you know 
this? how do you know you have experienced the 
second birth?' 'Because,' said I, 'we have the 
Spirit of the Father: what he wishes, we wish; 
what he hates, we hate.' Here he began to be a 
little more calm and less contentious, and mildly 
asked, how I had obtained this peac^ of mind? 
'Was it merely these books,' said he, taking up some 
of our sheets. I told him, 'These books, with 
prayer.' 'What was the beginning of it?' said he, 
'the society of some friend?' I related to him my 
religious history, the substance of which was, that I 
took my Bible, before God, in prayer, and prayed 
for forgiveness through Christ, assurance of it 
through his Spirit, and grace to obey his command- 
ments. Thev then both asked, whether the same 
benefit would be conferred on them? 'Yes,' said I, 
<for so the Apostles preached, that all who were 
baptised in his name, should receive the gift of the 
Holy Ghost.' 'Can you assure me,' said Mirza Seid 
Ali, 'that the Spirit will be given to me; if so, I 
will be baptised immediately.' 'Who am I, that I 
should be surety?' I replied. S I bring you this mes- 
sage from God, that he who, despairing of himself, 
rests for righteousness on the Son of God, shall re- 
ceive the gift of the Holy Ghost; and to this I can 
add my testimony, if that be worth any thing, that 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 411 

1 have found the promise fulfilled in myself. But if, 
after baptism, you should not find it so in you, accuse 
not the Gospel of falsehood — it is possible that 
your faith might not be sincere; indeed, so fully am 
I persuaded that you do not believe on the Son of 
God, that if you were to entreat ever so earnestly 
for baptism, I should not dare to administer it at 
this time, when you have shewn so many signs of an 
unhumbled heart.' 'What, would you have me be- 
lieve,' said he, 'as a child?' 'Yes,' said I. 'True,' 
said he, 'I think that is the only way.' Aga AH 
said no more but, 'certainly he is a good man.' " 

Shortly after this discussion, Mr. Martyn states 
himself to have attended a public exhibition of a re- 
ligious kind. — The reason why he did not repeat his 
attendance, whether well grounded or not, is at least 
a proof that patriotic feelings in his mind were not 
extinguished by Christianity. 

"23. — Put on my English dress, and went to the 
Vizier's, to see part of the tragedy of Hosyn's death, 
wdiich they contrive to spin out, so as to make it 
last the ten first days of the Mohurrun. All the 
apparatus, consisted of a few boards for a stage, two 
tables, and a pulpit, under an immense awning, in a 
court where the company were assembled. The 
dramatis personce* were two; the daughter of Hosyn, 
whose part was performed by a boy, and a messen- 
ger: they both read their parts. Every now and 

* Characters of the play. 



412 MEMOIR OF 

then loud sobs were heard all over the court. Af- 
ter this, several feats of activity were exhibited 
before the talar, where the Vizier sat with the 
Moollahs. I was appointed to a seat, where indeed 
I saw as much as I wanted, but which, I afterwards 
perceived, was not the place of honor. As I trust 
I am far enough from wishing the chief seat in the 
synagogues, there was nothing in this that could 
offend me; but I do not think it right to let him 
have another opportunity of shewing a slight to my 
country in my person." 

Those who know not what it is to pass a dreary 
season of long seclusion from Christian society, sur- 
rounded with those who are immersed in all wick- 
edness, can form but an inadequate comprehension 
of the sacrifices to which Mr. Martyn submitted, in 
continuing so great a length of time at Shiraz: yet 
irom the expression of sentiments such as these, we 
may, in some measure, see what he endured. 

"Feb. 2. — From what I suffer in this city, I can 
understand the feelings of Lot. The face of the 
poor Russian appears to me like the face of an 
angel, because he does not tell lies. Heaven will 
be heaven, because there will not be one liar there. 
The word of God is more precious to me at this 
time than I ever remembered it to have been; and 
of all the promises in it, none is more sweet to me 
than this — 'He shall reign till he hath put all ene- 
mies under his feet.' 



REV. HENRY mXrTYN. 4 13 

"3. — A packet arrived from India, without a sin- 
gle letter for me. It was some disappointment to 
ine; but let me be satisfied with my God, and if I 
cannot have the comfort of hearing of my friends, 
let me return with thankfulness to his word, which 
is a treasure of which none envy me the possession^ 
and where I can find what will more than compen- 
sate for the loss of earthly enjoyments. Resigna- 
tion to the will of God is a lesson which I must 
learn, and which I trust he is teaching me." 

44 What an influence, a departure from the pre- 
cepts of the Gospel, has upon the determination of 
the judgment, with respect to its doctrines, — ap- 
pears in the representation Mr. Martyn gives of 
the conduct of Mirza Seid Ali, at this period. 

"4. — Mirza Seid Ah, who has been enjoying him- 
self in dissipation and idleness these two days, re- 
turned full of evil and opposition to the Gospel. 

"Alluding to some remarks he had made, 'I sup- 
pose,' said he, 'you think it is sinful to sport with the 
characters of holy men.' 'I have no objection,' I 
replied, 'to hear your sentiments, but I cannot bear 
to have any thing spoken disrespectfully of the 
Lord Jesus; and yeA there is not one of you Soofies 
but has said something against him.' 'You never 
heard me speak lightly of Jesus,' he replied. 'No. 
there is something so awfully pure about him, that 
nothing can he said.' " 

Recovering somewhat of a more serious spirit. 
Seid Ali joined with Aga Boozong, whom Mr. Mar- 
**35 



414 



MEMOIR OF 



tyn describes as one of the most magisterial of the 
Sooiies; in a conversation, in which a real desire for 
religious information seems to have been indicated. 
The day on which it took place was almost entirely 
consumed in discussions with a variety of visitors, 
respecting the Scriptures; it concluded with a very 
pleasing confession on the part of Seid Ali. 

"9. — Aga Boozong came. After much conversa- 
tion, he said, 'Prove to me, from the beginning, 
that Christianity is the way: how will you proceed? 
what do you say must be done?' 'If you would not 
believe a person who w T rought a miracle before 
you,' said I, 'I have nothing to say: I cannot pro- 
ceed a step.' 'I will grant you,' said Seid Ali, 'that 
Christ was the Son of God, and more than that.' 
'That you despair of yourself, and are willing to 
trust in him alone for salvation?' 'Yes.' 'Willing to 
confess Christ before men, and act conformably to 
his -word?' 'Yes: what else must I do?' 'Be baptis- 
ed in the name of Christ.' 'And what shall I gain?' 
'The gift of the Holy Ghost. The end of faith is 
salvation in the world to come, but even here you 
shall have the Spirit purifying the heart, and giving 
you the assurance of everlasting happiness.' Thus 
Aga Boozong had an opportunity of hearing those 
strange things, from my own mouth, of which he 
had been told by his disciple, the Mede. 'You can 
say, too,' said he, 'that you have received the 
Spirit?' I told them, 'I believed I had; for notwith- 
standing all my sins, the bent of rny heart was to 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 415 

God, in a way it never was before; that, according 
to my present feelings, I could not be happy if God 
was not glorified, and if I had not the enjoyment of 
his presence, for which I felt that I was now edu- 
cating.' Aga Boozong shed tears. 

"A Russian officer coming in at the time, the sub- 
ject of religion was dropped, except that while 
speaking of the convicts at Calcutta, whom I had 
seen at the gaol, Mirza Seid Ali asked me, how I 
addressed them? I told him, I cautioned them 
against despair, assured them that they might come 
at the eleventh hour, that it was never too late for 
mercy, if they came to God through Christ. 

"After this came Aga Ali, the Mede, to hear, as 
he said, some of the sentences of Paul. Mirza Seid 
Ali had told them, 'that if they had read nothing 
but the Gospels, they knew nothing of the religion 
of Christ.' The sheet I happened to haye by me, 
was the one containing the fourth, fifth, and sixth 
chapters of 2nd Corinthians, which Aga Ali read 
out. 

"At this time the company had increased consid- 
erably. I desired him to notice particularly the 
latter part of the fifth chapter, 'God was, in Christ, 
reconciling the world unto himself.' He then read 
it a second time, but they saw not its glory; howev- 
er, they spoke in high terms of the pith and solidity 
of Paul's sentences. 

"They were evidently on the watch for any thing 
that tallied with their own sentiments. Upon the 



416 MEMOIR OF 

passage — 'Always bearing about in the body the 
dying of the Lord Jesus,' the Mede observed, 'Do 
you not see that Jesus was in Paul, and that Paul 
was only another name for Jesus?' 'Whether we 
be beside ourselves, it is to God; and whether we 
be sober, it is for your sakes,' they interpreted 
thus: — 'We are absorbed in the contemplation of 
God, and when we recover, it is to instruct you.' 

"Walking afterwards with Mirza Seid All, he 
told me, how much one of my remarks had affected 
him, viz. that he had no humility. He had been 
talking about simplicity and humility as character- 
istic of the Soofies. 'Humility!' I said to him, 'if 
you were humble, you w r ould not dispute in this 
manner; you would be like a child.' He did not 
open his mouth afterwards, but to say, 'True; I 
have no humility.' In evident distress, he observ- 
ed, 'The truth is, we are in a state of compound ig- 
norance — ignorant, yet ignorant of our ignorance." 

On the last birth-day Mr. Martyn lived to com- 
memorate, we find him speaking in affecting terms 
with respect to his privations as a Missionary, yet 
expressing himself with ardent and humble grati- 
tude — as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

"18.— While walking in the garden, in some dis- 
order, from vexation, two Mussulmen Jews came 
up, and asked me what would become of them in 
another world? The Mahometans were right in 
their way, they supposed, and we in ours? but what 
must they expect? After rectifying their mistake 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 417 

as to the Mahometans, I mentioned two or three 
reasons for believing that we are right; such as 
their dispersion, and the cessation of sacrifices, im- 
mediately on the appearance of Jesus. 'True, true,' 
they said, with great feeling and seriousness; indeed, 
they seemed disposed to yield assent to any thing I 
said. They confessed they had become Mahome- 
tans only on compulsion; and that Abdoolghunee 
wished to go to Bagdad, thinking he might throw 
off the mask there with safety — but asked, what I 
thought? I said, 'the Governor was a Mahometan.' 
'Did I think Syria safer?' 'The safest place in the 
East,' I said, 'was India.' Feelings of pity for God's 
ancient people, and the awful importance of eternal 
things, impressed on my mind by the seriousness of 
their inquiries as to what would become of them, 
relieved me from the pressure of my comparatively 
insignificant distresses. I, a poor Gentile, blest, hon- 
ored, and loved; secured for ever by the everlasting 
covenant, whilst the Children of the Kingdom are 
still lying in outward darkness! Well does it become 
me to be thankful. 

"This is my birth day, on which I complete my 
thirty-first year. The Persian New Testament has 
been begun, and I may say finished in it, as only the 
last eight chapters of the Revelations remain. Such 
a painful year I never passed, owing to the privations 
I have been called to, on the one hand, and the spec- 
tacle before me of human depravity, on the other. 
But I hope that I have not come to this seat of Sa- 



418 MEMOIR OF 

tan in vain. The Word of God has found its way 
into Persia, and it is not in Satairs power to oppose 
its progress, if the Lord have sent it." 

The effect on the natural conscience of a plain 
and solemn declaration of some awful truths of 
Scripture, may be seen in the case of one of Mr. 
Martyn's visitors, who to great libertinism of prac- 
tice, added extreme latitudinarianism of principle. 

"23. — Aga Neseer came, and talked most cap- 
tiously and irrelevantly against all revealed religion. 
Three years ago, he had throw r n off the shackles of 
Mahomet, and advised me to do the same with my 
yoke. I told him, that I preferred my yoke to his 
freedom. He was for sending me naked into a wil- 
derness; but I would rather be a child, under the 
restraints of a parent, who would provide me with 
food and clothing, and be my protector and guide. 
To every thing I said, he had but one answer, 'God 
is the sole agent, sin and holiness, happiness and 
misery, cause and effect, are all perfectly one.' Find- 
ing him determined to amuse himself in this way, I 
said, 'These things will do very well for the present, 
while reclining in gardens and smoking caleans, but 
not for a dying hour. How many years of life re- 
main? You are about thirty, perhaps thirty more 
remain. How .swiftly have the last thirty pass- 
ed: how soon will the next thirty be gone! and 
then we shall see. If you are right, I lose nothing; 
if I am right, you lose your soul. Leaving out the 
consideration of all religion, it is probable that the 



REV. HENRY SlARTYN. 419 

next world may be a-kin to this, and our relation to 
both not dissimilar. But here we see that child- 
hood is a preparation for manhood, and that neglect 
of the proper employments of childhood entails mis- 
eries in riper years.' The thought of death, and 
separation from his pleasures, made him serious; or 
perhaps he thought it useless to press me with any 
more of his dogmas." 

On the 24th of Feb. 1812, the last sheet of the 
Persian New Testament was completed. "I have 
many mercies," said the Author of this great work, 
"in bringing it to a termination, for which to thank 
the Lord, and this is not the least. Now may that 
Spirit who gave the word, and called me, I trust, to 
be an interpreter of it, graciously and powerfully ap- 
ply it to the hearts of sinners, even to the gathering 
an elect people from the long estranged Persians!" 

The version of the Psalms in Persian, "a sweet 
employment," as Mr. Martyn terms it, and which, 
to use his own language, "caused six weary moons, 
that waxed and waned since its commencement, to 
pass unnoticed," was finished by the middle of the 
month of March. 

Mr. Martyn had now been resident for the space 
of ten months at Shiraz, during the whole of which 
time he had been almost incessantly engaged, as 
we have seen, in endeavoring to reclaim the wretch- 
ed race of infidels around him from the error of 
their ways. So far was he from shrinking from 
any fair opportunity of confessing Christ before 



420 MEMOIR OP 

men, that he gladly embraced and boldly sought 
out every occasion of avowing "whose he was, and 
whom he served." Nor was this conduct in him 
the fruit of a contentious spirit; it was the genuine 
offspring of that heavenly charity, which, "rejoicing 
in the truth," is ever ready "to contend earnestly 
for the faith once delivered to the saints." No one 
could have a more deep-rooted antipathy to contro- 
versy, at all times, and with all persons, than Mr. 
Martyn: a paramount regard to what was indispens- 
ably due to the cause of his Redeemer alone could 
induce him to engage in it. 

One public argument he had already held with 
the chief professor of Mahometan Law; a second 
disputation, of a similar, but far more decided char- 
acter, he was led to enter into at this time, with 
Mirza Ibraheem. The scene of this discussion was 
a court, in the palace of one of the Persian Princes, 
where a numerous body of Moollahs were collected, 
with Mirza Ibraheem at their head. In this assem- 
bly, Mr. Martyn stood up, as the single advocate of 
the Cnristian faith. Fearing God, like Micaiah* 
the son of Imlah, he feared not man. In the midst 
therefore of a Mahometan conclave, he proclaimed 
and maintained that prime and fundamental article 
of true religion, the Divinity of the Son of God. 

"On the 23rd," Mr. Martyn writes, "I called on 
the Vizier, afterwards on the Secretary of the Ker- 
manshah Prince. In the court, where he received 

*1 Kings xxii. 



TtEV. HENRY JVIARTYN. 421 

me, Mirza Ibraheem was lecturing. Finding my- 
self so near my old and respectable antagonist, I ex- 
pressed a wish to see him, on which Jaffier Ali 
Khan went up to ascertain if my visit would be 
agreeable. The Master consented, but some of the 
disciples demurred. At last, one of them observing, 
'that, by the blessing of God on the Master's con- 
versation, I might possibly be converted,' it was 
agreed that I should be invited to ascend. Then it 
became a question, where I ought to sit. Below all, 
would not be respectful to a stranger; but, above 
all the Mooliahs, could not be tolerated. I entered, 
and was surprised at the numbers. The room was 
lined with Mooliahs, on both sides, and at the top. 
I was about to sit down at the door, but I was beck- 
oned to an empty place near the top, opposite to 
the Master, who, after the usual compliments, with- 
out further ceremony^ asked me, 'what we meant 
by calling Christ — God?' War being thus unequivo- 
cally declared, I had nothing to do but to stand upon 
the defensive. Mirza Ibraheem argued temperately 
enough, but of the rest, some were very violent and 
clamorous. The former asked, 'if Christ had ever 
called himself God; was he the Creator, or a crea- 
ture?'' I replied, 'The Creator- 5 The Mooliahs 
looked at one another. Such a confession had never 
before been heard among Mahometan Doctors. 

"One Moollah wanted to controvert some of my 
illustrations, by interrogating me about the Person- 
ality of Christ. To all his questions I replied, by 
36 



422 MEMOIR OF 

requesting the same information respecting his own 
person. 

"To another, who was rather contemptuous and 
violent, I said, 'If you do not approve of our doc- 
trine, will you be so good as to say what God is ac- 
cording to you, that I may worship a proper object?' 
One said, 'The author of the universe.' 'I can form 
no idea from these words,' said I, 'but of a work- 
man at work upon a vast number of materials. Is 
that a correct notion?' Another said, 'One who 
came of himself into being.' 'So then he came,' I 
replied; 'came out of one place into another; and 
before he came, he was not. Is this an abstract 
and refined notion?' After this no one asked me 
any more questions; and for fear the dispute should 
be renewed, Jaffier Ali Khan carried me away." 

After making this intrepid and memorable confes- 
sion of the Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ, when he might be described as — 

"Faithful found 
Among the faithless; faithful, only he, 
Among innumerable false, unmoved, 
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, 
His loyalty he kept— his zeal— his love" — 

Mr. Martyn continued only a short time at Shiraz. 
From his own hand we have this brief account of 
that interesting period which immediately preceded 
his departure. 

"Mirza Seid Ali never now argues against the 
truth, nor makes any remarks but of a serious kind 



id. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 423 

He speaks of his dislike to some of the Soofies, 
on account of their falsehood and drunken habits. 
This approach to the love of morality, is the best 
sign of a change for the better, I have yet seen in 
him. As often as he produces the New Testament, 
which he always does when any of his friends come, 
his brother and cousin ridicule him; but he tells 
them, that supposing no other benefit to have been 
derived, it is certainly something better to have 
gained all this information about the religion of 
Christians, than to have loitered away the year in 
the garden. 

"27. — Four Moollahs,of Mirza Ibraheem's school, 
came to dispute against European philosophy, and 
against European religion. 

"Mirza Seid Ali requested, at Mirza Ibraheem's 
desire, to know where we got our notions concern- 
ing the Holy Spirit? He, for his part, did not remem- 
ber aey passages in the New Testament, which bore 
on the subject. — I referred them to the second chap- 
ter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. 

"May 1 — 10. Passed some days at Jaffier Ali 
Khan's garden, with Mirza Seid Ali, Aga Baba, 
Shekh Abulhasan, reading at their request, the Old 
Testament histories. Their attention to the word, 
and their love and respect to me, seemed to increase 
as the time of my departure approached. 

"Aga Baba, who had been reading St. Matthew, 
related, very circumstantially, to the company, the 
particulars of the death of Christ. The bed of roses, 



424 



MEMOIR OF 



on which we sat, and the notes of the nightingales 
warbling around us, were not so sweet to me as this 
discourse from the Persian. 

"One day telling Mirza Seid All, that I wished to 
return to the city in the evening, to be alone, and at 
leisure for prayer, he said with impression, 'though 
a man had no other religious society, with the aid of 
the Bible, he may, I suppose, live alone, with God?' 
It will be his own state soon— may he find it the 
medium of God's gracious communication to his souH 
He asked in what way God ought to be addressed, 
I told him as a father, with respectful love, and add- 
ed some other exhortations on the subject of prayer. 

"11. — Aga Baba came to bid me farewell, and 
he did it in the best and most solemn way, by asking, 
as a final question, 'whether, independently of exter- 
nal evidences, I had any internal proofs of the doc- 
trine of Christ?' — I answered, 'Yes, undoubtedly: 
the change from what I once w T as, is a sufficient evi- 
dence to me.' At last he took his leave in great sor- 
row', and what is better, apparently in great solici- 
tude about his soul. 

'•The rest of the day I continued with Mirza Seid 
Ali, giving him in charge what to do with the New 
Testament, in case of my decease, and exhorting him, 
as far as his confessions allowed me, to stand fast. 
He has made many a good resolution respecting his 
besetting sins. I hope, as well as pray, that some 
lasting effects will be seen at Shiraz from the word 
of God left among them." 



REV. JfENRY MARTIN". 425 

On the evening of the 24th of May, one year 
after entering Persia, Mr. Martyn hit Shiraz, in 
company with an English clergyman, having it in 
intention to lay before the King his translation of 
the New Testament; but finding, that without a 
letter of introduction from the British Ambassador, 
he could not, consistently with established usage, 
be admitted into the Royal presence, he determined 
to proceed to Tebriz, where, at that time, Sir Gere 
Ouseley, his Britannic Majesty's Minister, resided. 

His journey from Shiraz to Tebriz was not accom- 
plished in less than eight weeks, including one week 
spent at Isfahan, and a few days at the King's 
camp, — and the latter part of it was a time of 
great and unforeseen suffering to him. Had he 
known to what peril his life would be subjected, 
he doubtless would have deemed his object of too 
insufficient a magnitude to justify his exposing him- 
self to so much danger. 

"A little before sun-set," Mr. Martyn writes, "I 
left the city, and at ten o'clock at night, the cafila 
started. Thus ended my stay at Shiraz, No year 
of my life was ever spent more usefully, though 
such a long separation from my friends was often a 
severe trial. — Our journey to Persepolis was per- 
formed in ten hours. I had a fall from my horse 
by the saddle's coming off, but a gracious Providence 
preserved me from harm. 

"12. — Staid at Futihabad, a village about a par- 
asang from the ruins. 
*36 



426 



MEMOIR OF 



"13. — At three in the morning, we pursued our 
way, and at eight reached a village at the north- 
east extremity of the plain of Persepolis. Re- 
mained all day at the caravansara, correcting the 
Prince's copy. 

"14. — Continued our journey through two ridges 
of mountains to Imanzadu: no cultivation to be seen 
any where, nor scarcely any natural vegetable pro- 
duction, except the broom and hawthorn. The 
weather was rather tempestuous, with cold gusts of 
wind and rain. 

"The inhabitants of the village, this being the 
Imanzadu's tomb, do no work and pay no tax, but 
are maintained by the surrounding villages, and the 
casual offerings of visitors to the tomb. The cara- 
vansara being in ruins, we staid all this rainy day at 
a private house, where we were visited by people 
who came to be cured of ali their distempers. 

"15. — From the top of a mountain, just behind 
Imanzadu, we descended into a vast plain, entirely 
uninhabited, except where the skirts of it were 
spotted with the black tents of the wandering 
tribes. Crossing this plain obliquely, we passed 
over a mountain into another plain, where was the 
same scene of desolation. After a journey of ten 
parasangs, arrived, at two in the afternoon, at the 
caravansara Khooshee Zar, which, being in ruins, 
let in the wind upon us, at night, in all directions. 

"On rising on the morning of the 16th, we found 
a hoar frost, and ice on the pools. The excessive 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 427 

cold at this place is accounted for by its being the 
highest land between the Persian Gulf and the 
Caspian Sea. The baggage not having come up 
we were obliged to pass another day in this uncom- 
fortable neighborhood, where nothing was to be 
procured for ourselves or horses; the little rain 
this year having left the ground destitute of ver- 
dure, and the poor village near us having nothing 
to sell. 

"17. — Our way, to day, along the same plain; on 
the left was a ridge of hills covered with snow. 
Entering another plain, into w T hich the former led, 
we reached a caravansara, near a small w T alled vil- 
lage, called Dih Serdoo. 

"18. — After a journey, of much the same length, 
over uneven ground, where the view was much 
obstructed, w r e arrived at a caravansara, in a great 
cleft, which divides Fars from Irak. 

"19. — Moved six parasangs to a private house at 
Mujrood. The plain, as usual, uninhabited; but we 
passed one village. 

"20. — Continued our march, in the same plain, to 
Comesha, four parasangs. 

"21. — To Mygar, five parasangs. — Finished the 
revision of the Prince's copy. At eleven at night 
we set off for Isfahan, and arrived, soon after sun- 
rise, on the 22nd, and were accommodated in one of 
the King's palaces. Found my old Shiraz scribe 
here, and corrected, with him, the Prince's copy. 



428 MEMOIR OF 

"23. — Called on the Armenian Bishops at Julfa, 
and met Matteus. He is certainly vastly superior 
to any Armenian I have yet seen. We went, next, 
to the Italian Missionary, Joseph Carabiciate, a na- 
tive of Aleppo, but educated at Rome. He spoke 
Latin; was very sprightly, considering his age, which 
was sixty-six, but discovered no sort of inclination to 
talk about religion. Until lately, he had been sup- 
ported by the Propaganda; but weary, at last, of 
exercising his functions without remuneration, and 
even without necessary provisions, he talks of re- 
turning to Aleppo. 

"24. — (Sunday.) — Went, early this morning, to 
the Armenian Church, attached to the Episcopal 
residence. Within the rails were two out of the 
four Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, but in the 
body of the Church, only three people. Most of 
the Armenians at Julfa, which is now reduced to 
five hundred houses, attend at their respective 
parish churches, of which there are twelve, served 
by twenty priests. After their pageantry was over, 
and we were satiated with processions, ringing of 
bells, waving of colors, and all the other ceremonies, 
which were so numerous as entirely to remove ail 
semblance of pious worship: we were condemned to 
witness a repetiton of the same mockery at the Ital- 
ian's Church, at his request. I could not stand it 
out, but those who did, observed, that the priest ate 
and drank all the consecrated elements himself, and 
gave none to the few poor women who composed 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 429 

his congregation, and who, the Armenians said, had 
been hired for the occasion. In our way back, we 
called at the Convent of the Armenian Nuns, a com- 
pany of ignorant old women, who screamed out some- 
thing in the Church, which they called a welcome 
anthem. I tried to converse with the Abbess, 
through Matteus, and was not much surprised to tind 
her utterly without information, when the Bishops 
have so little. I wish to learn Matteus' sentiments 
on the subject of Monachism. Though his defence 
of it shewed he was not strong in his belief of its util- 
ity, I was grieved to see that he did not perceive 
how far the Christian way of sanctification differed 
from these human devices, to attain that object. I 
talked with him a good deal about the office of the 
Spirit, but he did not, while assenting, seem to feel 
its importance. Before returning to Isfahan, we 
sat a short time in the garden, with the Bishops. 
They, poor things! had nothing to say, and could 
scarcely speak Persian: so all the conversation was 
between me and Matteus. At my request, he 
brought what he had of the Holy Scriptures, in Per- 
sian and Arabic. They were Wheloi's Persian Gos- 
pels, and an Arabic version of the Gospels, printed 
at Home. I tried in vain to bring him to any profit- 
able discussion; with more sense than his brethren, 
he is not more advanced in spiritual knowledge. Re- 
turned much disappointed. Jul fa had formerly 
twenty Bishops, and about one hundred clergy, with 
twentv-four Churches. All the Armenians can read, 



430 MEMOIR OF 

and have the New Testament; but family prayer is 
not known. They may go every day to Church 
prayers. Matteus preaches every Sunday, he says, 
and this day expounded the first of John, which was 
the Gospel for the day. 

"26. — The Armenian Bishops and three priests 
came to return our visit. Matteus brought with 
him a copy of the Gospels, Armenian and Persian, 
done by Joannes, the late Bishop here, who, he sajs, 
was a good scholar, and wrote on the Divinity of 
Christ." 

At the end of the month of May, Mr. Martyn 
departed from Isfahan, and thus describes a route 
in which the extremes of lovely fertility and sterile 
desolation were united. 

"June 1. — Continued winding through the moun- 
tains to Caroo, situated in a deep dell. Here were 
trees, green corn fields, and running streams; the 
first place in Asia I have seen exhibiting any thing of 
the scenery of England. 

"2. — Soon after midnight, mounted our horses. It 
was a mild moon light night, and a nightingale filled 
the whole valley with his notes. Our way was 
along lanes, over which the wood on each side 
formed a canopy, and a murmuring rivulet accompa- 
nied us, till it was lost in a lake. At daylight we 
emerged into the plain of Cashan, which seems to be 
a part of the Great Salt Desert. On our arrival at 
the King's garden, where we intended to put up, we 
were at first refused admittance, but an application 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 431 

to the Governor was soon attended to. We saw 
here huge snowy mountains, on the north-east, be- 
yond Tehran. 

"3 — 5. Reached Kom— the country uniformly 
desolate. 

"The chief Moojtuhid in all Persia being a resi- 
dent in this city, I sent to know if a visit would be 
agreeable to him. His reply was, that if I had any 
business with him, I might come; but if otherwise, 
his age and infirmities must be his excuse. Intend- 
ing to travel a double stage, started soon after sun- 
set; and on the 

"6th. — Crossed the desert, which we had been 
skirting, from the day we came in sight of Cashan. 
After travelling ten parasangs, reached the caravan- 
sara of Hour Sultania. Here, first, we seemed to 
be approaching the Tartar regions. 

"7. — Arrived at a caravansara, with villages in 
the neighborhood, seven parasangs. A large party 
gathered about me in the^evening, and from asking 
questions about Europe, proceeded, as usual, to in- 
terrogate me concerning Christ. They continued 
about me till I mounted my horse, and rode from 
amongst them, to prosecute my journey. 

"8. — Arrived, two hours before day-break, si 
the walls of Tehran. I spread my bed upon the 
high road, and slept till the gates were open; then 
entered the city, and took up my abode at the Am- 
bassador's house." 



432 MEMOIR OF 

As no muleteers could be procured at Tehran 
to proceed to Tebriz, it was considered advisable 
that Mr. Martyn should travel alone to the King's 
camp, for the purpose 'of seeing Mirza Shufi, the 
Premier, (or Ameenoddoula,) and solicit his as- 
sistance in obtaining for him an introduction to 
the King: for he was "anxious to lose no time in 
presenting his book;" so "leaving the city," he says, 
"just before the gates were shut, and giving the 
cattle their feed outside the walls, I went on, and 
travelled all night, till sunrise, and arrived at the 
caravansara, close to the King's camp, at Carach. 
I lost no time in forwarding Jaffier Ali Khan's 
letter to the Premier, who sent to desire that I 
would come to him. I found him lying ill in the 
verandah of the King's tent of audience. Near 
him were sitting two persons, who, I was afterwards 
informed, were Mirza Khanter, and the other Mirza 
Abdoolwahab, a Secretary of state, and a great 
admirer of the Soofi sage. They took very little 
notice, not rising when I sat down, as is their custom 
to all who sit with them, nor offering me calean. 
The two Secretaries, on learning my object in com- 
ing, began a conversation with me, on religion and 
metaphysics, which lasted two hours. As they 
were both well educated, gentlemanly men, the 
discussion was temperate, and, I hope, useful. 
What I remember of it was as follows: — ; Do you 
consider the New Testament as the word spoken 
by God?' 4 The sense from God, but the expression 



H£V. HENRY MARTYN. 



433 



from the different writers of it.' Here the Premier 
asked, how many languages I understood; whether 
I spoke French; where I was educated; whether I 
understood astronomy and geography? and then ob- 
served to the others, that I spoke good Persian, to 
which they assented. They resumed, 'We want to 
know what you learned men think about the state 
of the soul after death, till the resurrection?' I 
mentioned the different opinions. 'But how, think 
you, does the Spirit exist without the body?' 'Tell 
me,' said I, 'how the Angels exist, and I will tell 
you. 5 'In what sense do you believe the resurrec- 
tion of the body: that every particle buried shall 
rise?' I mentioned the Scripture metaphor of the 
wheat dying and rising, with which the Soofi Secre- 
tary appeared much pleased. 'What are the prin- 
ciples of your religion?' 'They are all centered in 
Jesus; not in his precepts, but himself.' 'What are 
your opinions concerning Christ: was he a Prophet 
created?' 'His Manhood was created; his Godhead, 
of course, not.' 'Now we much wish to hear what 
are your notions on this extraordinary subject — the 
Trinity?' I explained, and began with observing, 
that it was by no means so extraordinary as at first 
sight it appeared to be; and then brought the illus- 
tration from the words, 'Image of the invisible God.' 
'Have you read the Koran?' 'Yes.' 'Is it not a 
miracle?' 'Prove it to be so.' The Soofi said, as if 
from me, 'the Arabs say it is inimitably elegant; how 
do I, who am a Persian, know it to be so?' 'What 
37 



434 MEMOIR OF 

do you say to the division of the moon?' 'No suffi- 
cient evidence for it.' 'What superior evidence 
have you for the miracles of Christ?' I was about 
to answer, when the Soofi, not thinking it would be 
satisfactory, said, rather dogmatically, 'that no relig- 
ion could be proved demonstratively.' I said, 'If 
such degree of probable evidence was adduced as 
we acted upon in common life, we should be inex- 
cusable in rejecting it.' 

"On the top of the caravansara, at sun-set, I had 
a conversation of a different kind on one of these 
subjects. A man, seated on his rug, asked me, 
what I walked up and down for, and told me to 
come and sit with him on his carpet. I did, and 
found him to be a plain Mahometan, that is — pure 
bigotry and ignorance. Any thing I said, went 
for nothing. I knew nothing at all about the Gos- 
pel. He had talked with Armenian preachers, and 
therefore knew more about the matter than myself. 
They had told him, that the story of Jesus and 
Mary, in the Koran, was exactly true; this he took 
to be an acknowledgment that the book was from 
God. Thinking it worth while to see the state of 
the middling rank of Mahometans, I let him talk 
away. He supposed that the Mahometans had 
formerly taken all Europe, and that we still paid 
tax for being permitted to live. That the mother 
of Mehdi was the daughter of Simon Peter, or 
Plato; he could not tell which, but rather thought 
it was Constantine, Emperor of Rome. He could 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 435 

not understand how Europe should be on one side 
of Persia, and India on the other. Such geograph- 
ical difficulties are not to be wondered at in such a 
poor fellow, though he had travelled as a merchant 
a good deal, when the Moollahs, and probably the 
Ministers of State, do not know the relative situa- 
tions of the provinces of their own kingdom. 

"The man was very angry at my presuming to 
ask why he was a Mahometan. Finding me at last, 
more disposed to hear than speak, he began to 
think his discourse had made some impression on 
me, and with eyes sparkling with hopes of a con- 
quest, told me, with great affection, what I should 
do to get a knowledge of the truth. 'Drink,' said 
he, 'no wine for three days; pray, according to your 
own form, for divine direction, and depend upon it 
you will find it.' 'But suppose,' said I, 'I have no 
such doubts in my mind, as to feel my need of di- 
vine direction in this particular; what then?' 'Why 
then,' said he, looking grimly, 'I have nothing more 
to say to you, and so, good night.' " 

The third day after the above conversations, Mr. 
Martyn was called to a severer trial of his faith and 
patience than any to which he had yet been expos- 
ed. — Several of the most intemperate Moollahs set 
themselves in array against him, and contended with 
him in behalf of Mahometanism, in the presence of 
the Prime Minister of the Kingdom. There it was 
demanded of him, that he should deny that Savior 
who had bought him with his blood; but there h« 



436 MEMOIR 0£ 

"witnessed a good confession," and fearlessly ac- 
knowledged Jesus as his Lord. 

12. — "I attended the Vizier's levee, when there 
was a most intemperate and clamorous contro- 
versy kept up for an hour or two; eight or ten 
on one side, and 1 on the other. Amongst them 
were two Mooliahs, the most ignorant of any I have 
yet met with in Persia or India. It would be im- 
possible to enumerate all the absurd things they 
said. Their vulgarity, in interrupting me in the 
middle of a speech; their utter ignorance of the 
nature of argument; their impudent assertions about 
the law and the Gospel, neither of which they had 
ever seen in their lives — moved my indignation a 
little. I wished, and I said that it would have been 
weli, if Mirza Abdoolwahab had been there; I 
should have had a man of sense to argue with. The 
Vizier, who set us going at first, joined in it latterly, 
and said, 'You had better say, 'God is God, and Ma- 
homet is the Prophet of God.' I said, 'God is God,' 
but added instead of 'Mahomet is the Prophet of 
God,' 'and Jesus is the Son of God.' They had no 
sooner heard this, which I had avoided mentioning 
till then, than they all exclaimed, in contempt and 
anger, 'He is neither born, nor begets,' and rose up, 
as if they would have torn me in pieces. One of 
them said, 'what will you say when your tongue is 
burnt out for this blasphemy?' 

"One of them felt for me a little, and tried to 
soften the severity of this speech. My book, 



REV. HENRY ftfARTYN. 43? 

which I had brought, expecting to present it to the 
King, lay before Mirza Shufi. As they all rose up, 
after him, to go, some to the King, and some away, 
I was afraid they would trample upon the book, so 
I went in among them to take it up, and wrapped it 
in a towel before them; while they looked at it and 
me with supreme contempt. 

"Thus I walked away alone to my tent, to pass 
the rest of the day in heat and dirt. What have I 
done, thought I, to merit all this scorn? Nothing, 
I trust, but bearing testimony to Jesus. I thought 
over these things in prayer, and my troubled heart 
found that peace which Christ hath promised to his 
disciples: — 

'If on my face, for thy dear name,' &e. 

"To complete the trials of the day, a message 
came from the Vizier, in the evening, to say, that it 
was the custom of the King not to see any English- 
man, unless presented by the Ambassador, or ac- 
credited by a letter from him; and that I must wait, 
therefore, till the King reached Sultania, where the 
Ambassador would be." 

After this day "of rebuke and blasphemy," when 

that divine promise was eminently fulfilled towards 

Mr. Martyn, "thou shalt hide them in the secret of 

thy presence, from the pride of man, thou shalt 

keep thern secretly in a pavilion from the strife of 

torques," when having heard the "slander of many," 

and being made a "reproach amongst all his ene- 
#37 



438 MEMOIR OF 

mies," he could nevertheless exclaim with the 
Psalmist, "O how great is thy goodness which thou 
hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou 
hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the 
sons of men" — being joined by his companion from 
Tehran, he turned his back upon the King's camp, 
and prosecuted his journey towards Tebriz. 

"June 13. — Disappointed of my object," he writes, 
"in coming to the camp, I lost no time in leaving it, 
but proceeded, in company with Mr. C. who had 
just joined me from Tehran, towards Casbin, intend- 
ing to w r ait there the result of an application to the 
Ambassador. Started at eleven, and travelled till 
eleven next morning, having gone ten parasangs, or 
forty miles, 4o Quishiag. The country all along was 
well watered and cultivated. The mules being too 
much tired to proceed, w 7 e passed the day at the 
village; indeed, we all wanted rest. As I sat down 
in the dust, on a shady side of a walled village we 
passed, and surveyed the plains over which our road 
lay, I sighed at the thought of my dear friends in 
India and England: w r hat vast regions I must traverse 
before I can get to either, and what various and un- 
expected hindrances present themselves to my going 
forward! I comfort myself with the hope that my 
God has something for me to do, by thus delaying 
mv exit. 

«16. — Continued at the village, in consequence of 
an illness with which Mr. C. was attacked; but at 



REV. HENRY MARTYR 439 

night we moved forward, and after travelling seven 
parasangs, in the same fine plain, reached Casbin. 

"17. — In the caravansara there, they were collect- 
ing straw, &c. for the King, whom they expected 
in ten days. On this plea, they refused to allow us 
to unload there. 

"18. — Endeavored to get a muleteer to go to the 
Ambassador, but could agree with none, so I deter- 
mined to stay at Casbin. I had at first intended to 
go on to Sultania, there to wait for the King. 

"20. — Left this place, not a little disgusted at the 
reception we had met with there. One parasang 
off, we stopped at a village to get something for 
breakfast. One of the people there asked a good 
many questions about our religion. It was such an 
unusual thing, travelling coolly, in the middle of the 
day, in the East, that it produced a new train of 
ideas: indeed, I thought of nothing but of my dear 
friends in England, and the days when, in weather 
like this, I walked with them, 'taking sweet coun- 
sel,' While passing over the plain, mostly on foot, 
I had them all in my mind, and bore them upon my 
heart in prayer. The North wind, from the Caspi- 
an, I suppose, blowing through some clouds that 
rested on the mountains on our right, made the air 
excessively cold. 

Arrived, between twelve and one o'clock, at Scab 
Dulir, where a villager gave us his house; though 
the room we were in was so constructed as scarcely 



440 MEMOIR OF 

to admit the light, we had need of all our skins to 
keep us warm. 

"21. — On account of the coldness of the weath- 
er, we did not think it necessary to start till seven 
o'clock, after breakfast. Arrived at the village of 
Aber at four in the afternoon, having taken the 
shortest route. Till we reached the high and fre- 
quented road, all was barrenness; but from thence, 
a good deal of cultivation, as also all the way from 
Casbin, near which city the vineyards were all open 
to the road: there was not so much as a fence. 

"22. — Left Sangla, at a quarter past five in the 
morning, and at a quarter past ten reached Sultania. 
The weather was perfectly cool and agreeable, and 
all round were the pastures of the wilderness. 
We met with the usual insulting treatment at the 
caravansara, where the King's servants had got pos- 
session of a good room, built for the reception of 
better sort of guests — they seemed to delight in 
the opportunity of humbling an European. Sultania 
is still but a village; yet the Zengan Prince quarter- 
ed himself, and all his attendants, with their horse?, 
on this poor little village. All along the road 
where the King is expected, the people are patiently 
waiting, as for some dreadful disaster. Plague, 
pestilence, famine, are nothing to the misery of 
being subject to the violence and extortion of this 
rabble soldiery. One of our servants, who had 
himself been formerly a soldier in the King's camp, 
said, that the troops were raised from the wander- 



REV. fiENRY MARTYN. 441 

ing tribes and the cities. — Those from the tribes 
were paid by the King, the others by the cities. 
Sons of the Chiefs of the tribes, and, indeed, of all 
in important governments, are detained at Court as 
hostages. 

"24. — Left Sultania, at half-past three. Saw 
some water tortoises on the edge of the little stream 
that watered the vale. Continued our course to 
Zengan, distant from Sultania six parasangs, a walled 
city. Here we found, in the caravansara, large 
bales of cotton, brought by merchants from Tehran, 
intended for Turkey. There were also two Tar- 
tar merchants, natives of Astrachan, who had 
brought iron and tea for sale. They wished to 
know whether we wanted tea of Cathay. I was 
curious to know something about the countries they 
had visited; but they spoke nothing but Turkish, 
without which language, a person may travel to very 
little purpose in these parts: Persian is quite a for- 
eign language. 

"25. — After a restless night, rose so ill with a 
fever that I could not go on. My companion Mr. C. 
was nearly in the same state. We touched nothing 
all the day. 

"26. — After such another night, I had determined 
to go on, but Mr. C. declared himself unable to stir; 
so here we dragged through another miserable day. 
What added to our distress was, that we were in 
danger, if detained here another day or two, of be- 
ing absolutely in want of the necessaries of life. 



442 MEMOIR OF 

before reaching Tebriz. We made repeated appli- 
cations to the monied people, but none would 
advance a piastre. Where are the people who 
flew forth to meet General Malcolm with their 
purses and their lives? Another generation has risen 
up, who know not Joseph. Providentially, a poor 
muleteer arriving from Tebriz, becoming security 
for us, obtained five tomans for us. This was a 
Heaven-send; and we lay down quietly, free from 
apprehensions of being obliged to go a fatiguing 
journey of eight or ten hours, without a house or 
village in the way, in our present weak and reduced 
state. We had now eaten nothing for two days. 
My mind was much disordered from head-ache and 
giddiness, from which I was seldom free; but my 
heart, I trust, w r as with Christ, and bis saints. To 
live much longer in this world of sickness and pain, 
seemed no way desirable; the most favorite pros- 
pects of my heart seemed very poor and child;sh, 
and cheerfully would I have exchanged them for 
the unfading inheritance. 

"27. — My Armenian servant w 7 as attacked in the 
same way. The rest did not get me the things 
that I wanted, so that I passed the third day in the 
same exhausted state; my head, too, tortured with 
shocking pains, such as, together with the horror I 
felt at being exposed to the sun, shewed me plainly 
to what to ascribe my sickness. Towards evening, 
two more of our servants were attacked in the 
same way, and lay groaning from pains in the head. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 443 

"28. — All were much recovered, but in the after- 
noon I again relapsed. During a high fever, Mr. 
* * * read to me, in bed, the Epistle to the Ephe- 
sians, and I never felt the consolations of that divine 
revelation of mysteries more sensibly and solemnly. 
Rain in the night prevented our setting off. 

"29. — My ague and fever returned, with such a 
head-ache, that I was almost frantic. Again and again 
I said to myself, let patience have its perfect work, 
and kept pleading the promises, 'When thou passest 
through the waters, I will be with thee,' &c.; and the 
Lord did not withhold his presence. I endeavored 
to repel all the disordered thoughts that the fever 
occasioned, and to keep in mind that all was friendly: 
a friendly Lord presiding, and nothing exercising me 
but what would shew itself at last friendly. A vio- 
lent perspiration at last relieved the acute pain in 
my head, and my heart rejoiced; but as soon as that 
was over, the exhaustion it occasioned, added to the 
fatigue from the pain, left me in as low a state of 
depression as ever I was in. I seemed about to sink 
into a long fainting fit, and I almost wished it; but 
at this moment, a little after midnight, I was sum- 
moned to mount my horse, and I set out, rather dead 
than alive. We moved on six parasangs. We had 
a thunder-storm, with hail. 

"July 1. — A long and tiresome march to Sare- 
hund; for seven parasangs there was no village. 
They had nothing to sell, but buttermilk and bread; 
but a servant of Abbas Mirza happening to be at the 



444 MEMOIR OF 

same caravansara, sent us some flesh of a mountain- 
cow, which he had shot the day before. All day I 
had scarcely the right recollection of myself, from 
the violence of the ague. We have now reached 
the end of the level ground, which we have had all 
the way from Tehran, and are approaching the 
boundaries of Parthia and Media; a most natural 
boundary it is, as the two ridges of mountains we 
have had on the left and right, come round and 
form a barrier. 

"2. — At two in the morning we set out. I hardly 
know when I have been so disordered. I had little 
or no recollection of things, and what I did remem- 
ber, at times, of happy scenes in India or England, 
served only to embitter my present situation. Soon 
after moving into the air, I was seized with a violent 
ague, and in this state I went on till sunrise. At 
three parasangs and a half, we found a fine caravan- 
sara, very little used apparently, as the grass was 
growing in the court. There was nothing all round 
but the barren rocks, which generally roughen the 
country before the mountain rears its height. Such 
an edifice, in such a situation, was cheering. Soon 
after, we came to a river, over which was a high 
bridge: I sat down in the shade under it, with two 
camel drivers. The cafila, as it happened, forded 
the river, and passed on, without my perceiving it. 
Mr. * # # seeing no signs of me, returned, and after 
some time looking about, espied my horse grazing; 
he concluded, immediately, that the horse had flung 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 445 

me from the bridge into the river, and was almost 
about to give me up for lost. My speedy appear- 
ance from under the bridge, relieved his terror and 
anxiety. The pass was a mere nothing to those at 
Bushire; in fact, it was no part of the mountain we 
climbed, but a few hills. At a natural opening in the 
mountains, on the other side, was a river, most of its 
bed dry, and over it a bridge of many arches, which 
led us to an .unwalled village, surrounded by corn 
fields, which we reached at ten o'clock. Half the 
people still continue ill; for myself, I am, through 
God's infinite mercy, recovering. 

"3. — Started at three, full three hours after we 
ought, and, as was to be expected, we all got ill again, 
from being exposed to the sun six hours; for we did 
not get to our ground, Turcoman, till eleven o'clock. 
It was a poor village, among the hills, over which our 
whole way lay, from Mianu. Ascending one, and 
descending another, was the whole of the variety, 
so that I do not know when we have had a more 
tiresome day. 

"4. — I so far prevailed, as to geA the cafila in mo- 
tion at midnight. Lost our way in the night, but 
arriving at a village, were set right again. At eight, 
came to Kilk caravansara, but not stopping there, 
went on to a village where we arrived at half-past 
nine. The baggage not coming up till long after, 
we got no breakfast till one o'clock. In conse- 
quence of all these things — want of sleep, want of 

refreshment, and exposureto the sun^I was presently 
38 



446 MEMOIR OB^ 

in a high fever, which raged so furiously all the 
day, that I. was nearly delirious, and it was a long 
time before I could get the right recollection of my- 
self. I almost despaired, and do now, of getting 
alive through this unfortunate journey. Last night 
I felt remarkably well, calm, and composed, and sat 
reflecting on my heavenly rest, with more sweet- 
ness of soul, abstraction from the world, and solemn 
views of God, than I have had a long time. O! for 
such sacred hours! This short and painful life would 
scarcely be felt, could I but live thus at Heaven's 
gate. It being impossible to continue my journey 
in my present state, one of the servants also being so 
ill that he could not move with safety, we determin- 
ed to halt at the village one day, and sent on a mes- 
senger to Sir Gore, at Tebriz, informing him of our 
approach. 

"5.—- Sleeping all day, and at sunset prepared to 
proceed all the way to Tebriz, or at least to Seid 
Abad; but we did not set out till one in the morning. 
I was again dreadfully disordered with head-ache 
and fever. We got into a wretched hovel, where 
the raging fever almost deprived me of reason. In 
the cool of the evening, we set out to go to Seid 
Abad, distant about three parasangs. When the 
cafila arrived near Seid Abad, it was a dark night, 
about eleven o'clock, and not one of the party knew 
where it was, nor could we discover it by the bark- 
ing of the dogs, the usual sign. Once we heard the 
bark, and made sure of having attained our object;- 



BEY. HENRY MARTYN. 447 

but it was only shepherds keeping watch over their 
flocks by night. These boors shewed us what road 
to take, which we soon found ended in nothing; so 
returning, we tried to induce one of them to serve 
as a guide, with the promise of any sum of money 
he required — but all in vain. The only thing that 
remained to be done, was to he down on the spot, 
and wait patiently for the day; which I did, and 
caught such a cold as, with all our other exposures, 
consummated my disorders. As soon as it was day, 
we found our way to the village, where Dv. * * * 
was waiting for us. Not being able to stay for us, 
he went on to Tebriz, and we as far as Wasmuch, 
where he promised to prepare for us a fine upper 
room furnished; but when we arrived, they denied 
that there was any such place; at last, after an 
hour's threatening, we got admittance to it. An 
hour before break of day I left it, in hopes of reach- 
ing Tebriz before sunrise. Some of the people 
seemed to feel compassion for me, and asked me if 
I was not very ill. At last I reached the gate, and 
feebly asked for a man to shew me the way to the 
Ambassador's. 

By a fever of nearly two months continuance, 
which, during a greater portion of that period, raged 
with unremitted severity, Mr. Martyn was defeated 
in his intention of presenting in person his translation 
of the New Testament to the King of Persia, and to 
the Prince his son. His disappointment, however, 
on this occasion, was greatly diminished by the kind- 



448 MEMOIR OF 

ness of Sir Gore Ouseley, who, together with his 
Lady, was tenderly and assiduously attentive to Mr. 
Martyn, throughout the whole of his illness, and who, 
in order that nothing might be wanting conducive to 
the favorable acceptance of the New Testament 
with the King, promised himself to present it at 
Court* 

The idea of returning to England, which first oc- 
curred to Mr. Martyn at Cawnpore, was, as we have 
seen, instantly abandoned by him, on its appearing 
to be the Divine will that he should visit Persia. — 
After accomplishing his great object in that country, 
the general state of his health seeming to him to 
render the measure requisite, he reverted to his 
original intention, in the prosecution of which, he 
was confirmed by his long illness at Tebriz, for it 
had been induced by exposure to a heated atmos- 
phere, 

Happy would it have been, as to human eyes it 
appears, had he been less precipitate in putting this 
design in execution; but, on the tenth day after his 
recovery, he commenced his journey. What he 
felt when deprived of health, — what were his sen- 
sations when in a considerable degree restored to it, 
may be seen in extracts from two letters, the one 
addressed to Mr. Simeon, from the bed of suffering; 

* Sir Gore Ouseley, according to his promise, laid the New Testament 
before the King, who publicly expressed his approbation of the work. He 
also carried the MS- to St. Petersburgh, where, under his superintendftoc*, 
it was printed and put into circulation 



REV. HENRY MARTYK. 449 

the other sent to a friend exceedingly beloved by 
hirn in Cornwall. 

"I would not pain your heart," he said, in the 
first, "but we who are in Jesus, have the privilege 
of viewing life and death as nearly the same, since 
both are ours; and I thank a gracious Lord, that 
sickness never came at a time when I was more free 
from apparent reasons for living. Nothing seeming- 
ly remains for me to do, but to follow the rest of my 
family to the tomb." — "It has pleased God," he 
wrote in the second, "to restore me to life and 
health again: not that I have recovered my former 
strength yet, but consider myself sufficiently restor- 
ed to prosecute my journey. My daily prayer is, 
that my late chastisement may have its intended 
effect, and make me, all the rest of my days, more 
humble and less self-confident. Self-confidence has 
often let me down fearful lengths, and would, with- 
out God's gracious interference, prove my endless 
perdition. I seem to be made to feel this evil of 
my heart, more than any other, at this time. In 
prayer, or when I write or converse on the subject, 
Christ appears to me my life and strength; but, at 
other times, I am thoughtless and bold, as if I had 
all life and strength in myself. Such neglects, on 
our part, are a diminution of our joys; but the Cov- 
enant! the Covenant stands fast with Him for his 
people evermore. I mentioned my conversing some- 
times on divine subjects. In these I am sometimes 
led on by the Soon* Persians, and tell them all I 
*38 



450 MEMOIR OF 

know of the very recesses of the Sanctuary. But 
to give an account of all my discussions with these 
mystic philosophers, must be reserved to the time of 
our meeting. Do I dream, that I venture to think 
and write of such an event as that? Is it possible 
that we shall ever meet again below? Though it is 
possible, I dare not indulge such a pleasing hope. 

"In three days I intend setting my horse's head 
towards Constantinople, distant about one thousand 
three hundred miles. Nothing, I think, will occa- 
sion any further detention here, if [ can procure 
servants who know both Persian and Turkish. Ig- 
norant as I am of Turkish, should I be taken ill on 
the road, my case would be pitiable indeed. The 
Ambassador and his suite are still here; his and 
Lady Ouseley's attentions to me, during my illness, 
have been unremitted. The Prince Abbas Mirza, 
the wisest of the King's sons, and heir to the 
Throne, was here some time after my arrival. I 
much wished to present a copy of the Persian New 
Testament to him, but I could not rise from my bed, 
The book, however, will be given to him by the 
Ambassador. Public curiosity about the Gospel, 
now for the first time, in the memory of the modern 
Persians, introduced into the country, is a good deal 
excited here and at Shiraz, and at other places; so, 
that upon the whole, I am thankful at having been 
led hither and detained, though my residence in this 
country has been attended with many unpleasant 
circumstances. The way of the Kings of the East 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 451 

is preparing: thus much may be* said with safety, 
but little more. The Persians also will probably 
take the lead in the march to Sion." 

With such feeble hopes of reaching England, Mr. 
Martyn set his face towards it. His journey was 
the most painful, and at the same time most joyful 
one he ever undertook. The miseries he endured 
in it were intense — but it ended in his entrance into 
Heaven. 

"Sept. 2. — All things being ready," he says, "I 
set out on my long journey of one thousand three 
hundred miles, carrying letters from Sir Gore Ouse- 
ley, for the Governors of Erivan, Cars, and Erzerum, 
and the Ambassador at Constantinople. My party 
consisted of two Armenian servants, Antoine, the 
groom, and Sergius, who was to accompany me all 
the way to Constantinople, as professing to speak 
Persian and Turkish, and so qualified to act as my 
interpreter; but his knowledge of the former I 
soon found to be rather scanty. These were 
mounted, and two other horses carried my luggage; 
my Mihmander had also Chappar* horses, and I 
rode my own; there was also a man on foot, to 
bring back the cattle. As we passed through the 
bazars of Tebriz, I saw quantities of the finest fruit 
displayed on every stand. At sunset, we left the 
western gate of Tebriz behind us. The horses 

* Mr. Martyn, through the friendly interference of the Ambassador, 
travelled with what are termed Chappav horses; for an account of which sec 
Eurder's Oriental Customs,']?. 260. 



452 MEMOIR OF 

proved to be sorry animals; one sunk so often 
under his load, that we were six hours going what 
the Mihmander called two parasangs, but which 
was undoubtedly three or four. It was midnight 
before we arrived at Sangla, a village in the middle 
of the plain of Tebriz. There they procured me a 
place in the Zabit's house. I slept till after sun- 
rise of the 3rd, and did not choose to proceed at 
such an hour, so I passed most of the day in my 
room. At three in the afternoon proceeded to- 
wards Sofian. My health again restored, through 
infinite and unbounded mercy, allowed me to look 
round the creation with calm delight. The plain 
of Tebriz, towards the west and south-west, stretch- 
es away to an immense distance, and is bounded in 
these directions by mountains so remote, as appear, 
from their soft blue, to blend with the skies. The 
baggage having been sent on before, I ambled on 
with my Mihmander, looking all around me, and es- 
pecially towards the distant hills, with gratitude and 
joy. Oh! it is necessary to have been confined to a 
bed of sickness, to know the delight of moving freely 
through the works of God, with the senses left at 
liberty to enjoy their proper objects. My atten- 
dant not being very conversant with Persian, we 
rode silently along; for my part I could not have 
enjoyed any companion so much as I did my own 
feelings. At sunset we reached Sofian, a village 
with gardens, at the north-west end of the plain, usu- 
ally the first stage from Tebriz. The Zabit was in 



REV. HENRY JVURTYN. 453 

his corn-field, under a little tent, inspecting his labor- 
ers, who were cutting the straw fine, so as to be 
eaten by cattle: this was done by drawing over it a 
cylinder, armed with blades of a triangular form, 
placed in different planes, so that their vertices 
should coincide in the cylinder. 

"The Zabit paid me no attention, but sent a man 
to shew me a place to sleep iu^ with only three walls. 
I demanded another, with four, and was accordingly 
conducted to a weaver's, where, notwithstanding the 
musquitoes and other vermin, I passed the night com- 
fortably enough. On my offering money, the Mih- 
mander interfered, and said, if it were known that I 
had given money he should be ruined, and added, 
'they indeed dare not take it:' but this I did not find 
to be the case. 

"4. — At sunrise, mounted my horse, and proceed- 
ed north-west, through a pass in the mountains, to- 
wards Murun. By the way, I sat down by a brook* 
and there ate my bread and raisins, and drank of the 
crystal stream; but either the coldness of this un- 
usual breakfast, or the riding after it, did not at all 
agree with me. The heat oppressed me much, and 
the road seemed intolerably tedious; at last we got 
out from among the mountains, and saw the village 
of Murun, in a fine valley on the right. It was about 
eleven o'clock when we reached it. As the Mih- 
mander could not immediately find a place to put me 
in, we had a complete view of this village. They 
stared at my European dress, but no disrespect was 



454 MEMOIR OF 

shewn. I was deposited, at last with Khan, 

who was seated in a place with three walls. Not 
at all disposed to pass the da}' in company, as well 
as exposed, I claimed another room; on which I was 
shewn to the stable, where there was a little place 
partitioned off, but so as to admit a view of the 
horses. The smell of the stable, though not in gen- 
eral disagreeable to me, was so strong, that I was 
quite unwell, and strangely dispirited and melancholy. 
Immediately after dinner, I fell fast asleep, and 
slept four hours, when I rose, and ordered them to 
prepare for the next journey. The horses being 
changed here, it was some time before they were 
brought, but by exerting myself, we moved off by 
midnight. It was a most mild and delightful night, 
and the pure air, after the smell of the stable, was 
reviving. For once, also, I travelled all the way 
without being sleepy, and beguiled the hours of the 
night by thinking of the 14th Psalm, especially 
the connexion of the last three verses with the 
preceding. 

"5. — In five hours we were just on the hills that 
face the pass out of the valley of Murun, and in four 
hours and a half more emerged from between the 
two ridges of mountains, into the valley of Gurjur. 
Gurjur is eight parasangs from Murun, and our 
course to it was nearly due north. This long march 
was far from being a fatiguing one. The air, the 
road, and my spirits were good. Here I was well 
accommodated, but had to mourn over my impatient 



REV. HENRY MARTYX. 455 

temper towards my servants — there is nothing that 
disturbs my peace so much. How much more noble 
and godlike, to bear with calmness, and observe 
with pity, rather than anger, the failings and offen- 
ces of others. O that I may, through grace, be 
enabled to recollect myself at the time of tempt- 
ation! O that the Spirit of God may check my folly, 
and bring the lowly Savior to my view at such times! 
4% 6. — Soon after twelve we started with fresh 
horses, and came to the Arar, or Araxes, distant 
two parasangs, and about as broad as the Isis, with 
a current as strong as that of the Ganges. The 
forry-boat being on the other side, I lay down to 
sleep till it came, but observing my servants do the 
same, I was obliged to get up and exert myself. It 
dawned, however, before we got over. The boat 
Avas a huge fabric in the form of a rhombus. The 
ferry-man had only a stick to push with; an oar, I 
dare say, he had never seen or heard of, and many 
of my train had also, probably, never floated before; 
so alien is a Persian from every thing that belongs 
to shipping. We landed safely on the other side in 
about two minutes. We were four hours in reach- 
ing Nackshan, and for half an hour more I was led 
from street to street, till at last I was lodged in a 
wash-house belonging to a great man, a corner of 
which was cleaned out for me. It was near noon, 
and my baggage had not arrived, so that I was oblig- 
ed to go without my breakfast, which was hard, 
after a ride for four hours in the sun. The baggage 



456 MEMOIR OF . 

was delayed so long, that I began to fear; however, 
it arrived. All the afternoon I slept, and at sunset 
rose, and continued wakeful till midnight, when I 
roused my people, and with fresh horses set out 
again. We travelled till sunrise. I scarcely per- 
ceived we had been moving, a Hebrew word in the 
16th Psalm, having led me gradually to speculations 
on the eighth conjugation of the Arabic verb. I am 
glad my philological curiosity is revived, as my mind 
will be less liable to idleness. 

"7. — Arrived at Khoock, a poor village, dis- 
tant five and a half parasangs from Nackshan, 
nearly west. I should have mentioned, that on 
descending into the plain of Nackshan, my atten- 
tion was seized by the appearance of a hoary moun- 
tain, in front, at the other end, rising so high above 
the rest, that they sunk into nothing. It was truly 
sublime, and the interest it excited was not less, 
when, on inquiring its name, I was told it was Agri, 
or Ararat. Thus I saw two remarkable objects in 
one day — the Araxes and Ararat. At four in the 
afternoon we set out for Shurror. The evening was 
pleasant; the ground over which we passed was all 
full of rich cultivation and verdure, watered by 
many a stream, and containing forty villages, most of 
them with the usual appendage of gardens. To add 
to the scene, the great Ararat was on our left. On 
the peak of that hill the whole church was con- 
tained: it has now spread far and wide, to the ends 
of the earth, but the ancient vicinitv of it knows it 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 457 

no more. I fancied many a spot where Noah per- 
haps offered his sacrifices; and the promise of God, 
'that seed time and harvest should not cease,' ap- 
peared, to me, more anxiously fulfilled in the agree- 
able plain where it was spoken, than elsewhere, as I 
had not seen such fertility in any part of the Shah's 
dominions. Here the blessed Saint landed in a new 
world: so may I safe in Christ outride the storms 
of life, and land at last on one of the everlasting 
hills! 

"Night coming on, we lost our way, and got in- 
tercepted by some deep ravines, in one of which the 
horse that carried my trunks sunk so deep, that the 
water got into one of them, wetted the linen, and 
spoiled some books. Finding it in vain to attempt 
gaining our munzil, we went to another village, 
where, after a long delay, two aged men, with silver 
beards, opened their house to us. Though near 
midnight, I had a fire lighted to dry my books, took 
some coffee, and sunk into a deep sleep, from which 
waking at the earliest dawn of the 

"8th. — I roused the people, and had a delightful 
ride of one parasang to Shurror, distant four para- 
sangs from Khoock. Here I was accommodated by 
the great man, with a stable, or winter room; for 
they build it in such a strange vicinity, in order to 
have it warm in winter. At present, while the 
weather is still hot, the smell is overpowering at 
times. At eleven at night moved off, with fresh 
horses, for Duwala, and though we had guides in 
39 



458 MEMOIR OF 

abundance, we were not able to extricate ourselves 
from the ravines with which this village is surround- 
ed. Procuring another man from a village we hap- 
pened to wander to, we at last made our way, 
through grass and mire, to the pass, which led us to 
a country as dry, as the one we had left was wet. — 
Ararat was now quite near: at the foot of it is 
Duwala, six parasangs from Nackshan, where we 
arrived at seven in the morning of the 

"9th. — As I had been thinking all night of a He- 
brew letter, I perceived little of the tediousness of 
the way. I tried also some difficulties in the 16th 
Psalm, without being able to master them. All day 
at the 15th and 16th Psalms and gained some light 
into the difficulties. The villagers not bringing the 
horses in time, we were not able to go on at night, 
but I was not much concerned, as I thereby gained 
some rest. 

"10. — All day at the village, writing down notes 
on the 15th and 16th Psalms. Moved at midnight, 
and arrived early in the morning at Erivan. 

"11. — I alighted at Hosyn Khan, the Governors 
Palace, as it may be called, for he seems to live in a 
style equal to that of a Prince. Indeed, command- 
ing a fortress on the frontier, within six hours of the 
Russians, he is entrusted with a considerable force, 
and is nearly independent of the Shah. After 
sleeping two hours, I was summoned to his presence. 
He at first took no notice of me, but continued 
reading his Koran, it being the Mohurum. — After a 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 459 

compliment or two, he resumed his devotions. The 
next ceremony, was to exchange a rich shawl dress 
for a still richer pelisse, on pretence of its being 
cold. The next display, was to call a physician, who, 
after respectfully feeling his pulse, stood on one 
side: this was to shew that he had a domestic phy- 
sician. His servants were most richly clad. My 
letter from the Ambassador, which till now had 
lain neglected on the ground, was opened and read 
by a Moonshee. He heard with great interest 
what Sir Gore had written about the translation of 
the Gospel. After this lie was very kind and 
attentive, and sent for Lieut. M. of the Engineers, 
who was stationed, with two Serjeants, at this fort. 
In the afternoon, the Governor sent for me again, in 
private. A fountain, in a basin of white marble, 
was playing before him, and in the water, grapes and 
melons were cooling; two time-pieces were before 
him, to shew how near the time of lawful repast 
was; below the window, at a great depth, ran a 
broad and rapid stream, over rocks and stones, un- 
der a bridge of two arches, producing an agreeable 
murmur; on the other side of the river were gar- 
dens, and a rich plain; and directly in front, Ararat. 
He was now entirely free from ceremony, but too 
much fatigued to converse. I tried to begin a 
religious discussion, by observing, 'that he was in 
one Paradise now, and was in quest of another 
hereafter,' but this remark produced no effect. He 
ordered for me, a Mihmander, a guard, and four 



460 MEMOIR OF 

horses, with which a Turk had just come from 
Cars. Lieut. M. dined and passed the rest of the 
evening with us. 

"12. — The horses not being ready for me accord- 
ing to my order, I rode alone, and found my way to 
Ech-Miazia, (or, Three Churches/) two and a half 
parasangs distant. Directing my course to the 
largest Church, I found it enclosed with some other 
buildings and a wall. Within the entrance, I found 
a large court, with monks, cowled and gowned, 
moving about it. On seeing my Armenian letters, 
they brought me to the Patriarch's lodge, where I 
found two Bishops, one of whom was Nestus, at 
breakfast on pilaws, kubabs, wine, arrack, &c. and 
Serafino with them. As he spoke English, French, 
and Italian, I had no difficulty in communicating 
with my hosts. After breakfast, Serafino shewed 
me the room appointed for me, and sat down and 
told me his story. His proper name, in Armenian, 
is Serope; he was born at Erzerum, of Armenian 
Catholic parents. His father dying when he was 
young, his mother entrusted him to the care of the 
Missionaries, to be carried to Rome to be educated. 
There he studied eight years, and became perfectly 
Europeanised. At eighteen or twenty he left Rome, 
and repaired to Mount Libanus, w T here he was 
ordained, and where also his eyes were opened 
to the falsehood of the Pope's pretensions. After 
this, he served the Armenian Church at Erzerum, 
and then at Cars, after which he went to Bagdad. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 461 

Receiving at this time an invitation from the Patri- 
arch at Ech-Miazin, to join their body, he consented, 
on condition that he should not be considered a 
common monk; and accordingly he is regarded with 
that deference which his superior talent and inform- 
ation demand. He is exerting himself to extend his 
influence in the Monastery, for the purpose of exe- 
cuting some plans he has formed for the improve- 
ment of the Armenians. The Monastery, and con- 
sequently the whole of the Armenians, are under 
the direction of Nestus, one of the Bishops, for the 
Patriarch Ephraim is a mere cypher, and most of 
his time is in bed. About three years ago, Nestus 
succeeded in forming a Synod for the management 
of the business of the Church, consisting of eight 
Bishops, in which, of course, he is all powerful. 
The Patriarch is elected by twelve Bishops. One 
member alone of the Synod is a man of any ability, 
and he sometimes ventures to differ from Nestus. 
The object which Serope has at heart, is a College, 
to teach the Armenian youth logic, rhetoric, and the 
other sciences. The expediency of this is acknowl- 
edged, but they cannot agree about the place where 
the College should be. Serope, considering the 
danger to which the Cathedral seat is exposed, from 
its situation between Russia, Persia, and Turkey, is 
for building it at Tefiis. Nestus, on the contrary, 
conceiving that Ech-Miazin is the spot appointed by 
Heaven, according to a vision of Gregory, for the 
Cathedral seat, and so sanctified, is for hayi: I 
*39 



462 MEMOIR OF 

here. The errors and superstitions of his people, 
were the subject of Serope's conversation the whole 
morning, and seemed to be the occasion of real grief 
to him. He intended, he said, after a few more 
months trial of what he could do here, to retire to 
India, and then write and print some works in Ar- 
menian, tending to enlighten the people with regard 
to religion, in order to introduce a reform. I said 
all I could think of to encourage him in such a bless- 
ed work, promising him every aid from the English, 
and proving to him, from the example of Luther 
and the European reformers, that, however ardu- 
ous the work might seem, God would surely be with 
him to help him on. I mentioned the awful neglect 
of the Armenian Clergy, in never preaching, as 
thereby the glad tidings of a Savior were never 
proclaimed. He made no reply to this, but 'that it 
was to be lamented, as the people were never called 
away from vice.' When the bell rang for vespers, 
we went together to the great Church. The Ec- 
clesiastics, consisting of ten Bishops, and other monks, 
with the choristers, were drawn up in a semi-circle 
fronting the altar, for a view of which the Church 
door was left open. Serope fell into his place, and 
went through a few of the ceremonies; he then took 
me into the Church, never ceasing to remark upon 
the ignorance and superstition of his people. Some 
of his Catholic prejudices against Luther seemed to 
remain. The monks dined all together in the ball 
at eleven; at night each sups in his own room. S.e> 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 463 

rope, Nestus, and two or three others, form a party 
of themselves, and seldom dine in the hall, where 
coarseness, both of meals and men, too much pre- 
vails. 

"13. — I asked Serope about the 16th Psalm in 
the Armenian version; he translated it into correct 
Latin. In the afternoon I waited on the Patriarch: 
it was a visit of great ceremony. He was reclining 
on a sort of throne, placed in the middle of the 
room. All stood but the two senior Bishops; a 
chair was set for me on the other side, close to the 
Patriarch; at my right hand stood Serope, to inter- 
pret. The Patriarch wore a dignified, rather than 
a venerable appearance. His conversation consist- 
ed in protestations of sincere attachment, in expres- 
sions of his hopes of deliverance from the Mahome- 
tan yoke, and inquiries about my translation of the 
Scriptures; and he begged me to consider myself as 
at home in the Monastery. Indeed, their attention 
and kindness are unbounded: Nestus and Serope an- 
ticipate my every wish. I told the Patriarch, that 
I was so happy in being here, that, did duty permit, 
I could be almost willing to become a monk with 
them. He smiled, and fearing perhaps that I was 
in earnest, said, that they had quite enough. Their 
number is a hundred, I think. The Church was 
immensely rich, till about ten years ago, when, by 
quarrels between two contending Patriarchs, one 
of whom is still in the Monastery in disgrace, most 
of the money was expended by referring their dis- 



464 MEMOIR OF 

:es to the Mahometans as arbitrators. There is 
no difficulty, however, in replenishing their coffers: 
their merchants in India are entirely at their com- 
mand. 

"15. — Spent the day in preparing, with Serope, 
* for the mode of travelling in Turkey. All my 
heavy and expensive preparations at Tebriz prove 
to be incumbrances, which must be left behind; so 
my trunks were exchanged for bags; my portable 
table and chair, several books, large supplies of 
sugar, &lc. were condemned to be left behind. My 
humble equipments were considered as too mean for 
an English gentleman, so Serope gave me an Eng- 
lish bridle and saddle. The roads in Turkey being 
much more infested by robbers than Persia, a sword 
was brought for me. My Armenian servant, Ser- 
gius, was to be armed with a gun and sword, but it 
was determined that he was unfit for the journey; 
so a brave and trusty man of the Monastery, named 
Melcom, was appointed in his stead, and he had 
arms of his own — he speaks nothing but Turkish. 
"16. — I conversed again with Serope on his pro- 
jected reformation. As he was invited to Ech- 
Miazin for the purpose of educating the Armenian 
youth for the ministry, he has a right to dictate in 
all that concerns that matter. His objection to 
Ech-Miazin is, that from midnight to sunrise all the 
members of the Monastery must attend prayers; 
this requires all to be in bed immediately after sun- 
set. The monks are chiefly from the neighbor- 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 465 

hood of Erivan, and were originally singing boys: 
into such hands is this rich and powerful founda- 
tion fallen. They have no vows upon them but 
those of celibacy." 

The hospitable and benevolent conduct of the 
interesting* Society at Ech-Miazin, made a deep 
impression upon the feeling mind of their guest: — 
received by them as a brother, he left them with 
sentiments of fraternal regard, and no doubt his 
heart swelled with grateful recollections of peculiar 
strength, when the kindness he had experienced in 
the bosom of an Armenian Monastery, was brought 
into contrast with that Mahometan inhospitality and 
cruelty, to which in a short time he was subjected. 
— "At six in the morning of the 17th of September, 
(Mr. Martyn writes,) accompanied by Serope, one 
Bishop, the Secretary, and several servants of the 
Monastery, I left Ech-Miazin. My party now r con- 
sisted of two men from the Governor of Erivan, a 
Mihmander, and a guard; my servant Sergius, for 
whom the monks interceded, as he had some busi- 
ness at Constantinople; one trusty servant from the 
Monastery, Melcom, who carried my money; and 
two baggage horses, with their owners. The 
monks soon returned, and we pursued our way in 
the plain of Ararat. At twelve o'clock, reached 
Quila-Gazki, about six parasangs from Ech-Miazin. 



* For the interest the Armenians excite, (in a Missionary point of view,) 
see Dr. Buchanan's Christian Researches. 



466 MEMOIR OF 

The Mihmander rode on, and got a good place ready 
for me. 

"18. — Rose with the dawn, in hopes of going 
this stage before breakfast, but the horses were 
not ready. I set off at eight, fearing no sun, though 
I found it at times very oppressive when there was 
no wind. At the end of three hours, we left the 
plain of Ararat, the last of the plains of modern 
Persia in this quarter. Meeting here with the 
Araxes again, I undressed and plunged into the 
stream; while hastening forward, with the trusty 
Melcom, to rejoin my party, we were overtaken by 
a spearman, with a lance of formidable length. I 
did not think it likely that one man would venture 
to attack two, both armed; but the spot was a 
noted one for robbers, and very well calculated, by 
its solitariness, for deeds of privacy: however, he 
was friendly enough. He had, however, nearly 
done me a mischief. On the bank of the river we 
sprung a covey of partridges: instantly he laid his 
long lance under him, across the horse's back, and 
fired a horse pistol at them. His horse starting at 
the report, came upon mine, with the point of the 
spear directly towards me, so that I thought a 
wound for myself or horse was inevitable; but the 
spear passed under my horse. We were to have 
gone to Hagi-Buhiren, but finding the head man of 
it at a village a few furlongs nearer, we stopped 
there. We found him in a shed outside the walls, 
reading his Koran, with his sword, gun, and pistol 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 46? 

at his side. He was a good-natured farmer-like 
looking man, and spoke in Persian. He chanted 
the Arabic with great readiness, and asked me, 
whether I knew what that book was? 'Nothing less 
than the great Koran.' 

"19. — Left the village at seven in the morning, 
and as the stage was reputed very dangerous, owing 
to the vicinity of the famous Cara Beg, my Mihman- 
der took three armed men from the village in addi- 
tion to the one we brought from Erivan. We contin- 
ued going along through the pass two or three par- 
asangs, and crossed the Araxes three times. We 
then ascended the mountains on the north, by a road, 
if not so steep, yet as long and difficult as any of the 
cotuls of Bushire. On the top, we found table land, 
along which we moved many a tedious mile, expect- 
ing every minute that we should have a view of a 
fine campaign country below; but dale followed dale, 
apparently in endless succession, and though at such 
a height, there was very little air to relieve the heat, 
and nothing to be seen but barren rocks. One part, 
however, must be excepted, where the prospect 
opened to the north, and we had a view of the Rus- 
sian territory; so that at once we saw Persia, Russia, 
and Turkey. At length we came to an Armenian 
village, situated in a hollow of these mountains, on a 
declivity. The village presented a singular appear- 
ance, being filled with conical piles of peat, for they 
have no fire wood. Around, there was a great deal 
of cultivation, chiefly corn. Most of the low land 



468 MEMOIR OF 

from Tebriz to this place is planted with cotton, 
palma Christi* and rice. This is the first village in 
Turkey; not a Persian cap was to be seen; the re- 
spectable people wore a red Turkish cap. The 
great man of the village paid me a visit; he was a 
young Mussulman, and took care of all my Mussul- 
men attendants, but he left me and my Armenians 
where he found us, at the house of an Armenian, 
without offering his services. 1 was rather uncom- 
fortably lodged, my room being a thoroughfare for 
horses, cows, buffaloes, and sheep. Almost all the 
village came to look at me. The name of this village 
is Fivvick, and is distant six parasangs from the last; 
but we were eight hours accomplishing it, and a ca- 
fila would be twelve. We arrived at three o'clock 
— horses and men much fatigued. 

"20. — From day-break to sunrise walked, then 
breakfasted, and set out. Our course lay north, 
over a mountain, and here danger was apprehended; 
it was, indeed, dismally solitary all around. The 
appearance of an old castle on the top of a crag, 
was the first occasion on which our guard got their 
pieces ready, and one rode forward to reconnoitre: 
but all there was as silent as the grave. At last, 
after travelling five hours, we saw some men: our 
guard again took their places in front. Our fears 
were soon removed, by seeing carts and oxen. Not 
so the opposite party; for my baggage was so small, 
as not easily to be perceived. They halted, there- 

* A plant from which Castor Oil is extraoied. 




REV. HENRY MARTY N. 469 

fore, at the bottom towards which we were both 
descending, and those of them who had guns advanc- 
ed in front, and hailed us. We answered peacefully; 
but still distrusting us as we advanced nearer, they 
cocked their pieces: at this time w T e came to a par- 
ley. They were Armenians, bringing wood from 
Cars to their village in the mountain: they were 
hardy, fine young men, and some old men with them 
were particularly venerable. The dangerous spots 
being passed through, my party began to sport with 
their horses, by gallopping across the path, brandish- 
ing their spears or sticks; they darted them just at 
the moment of wheeling round their horses, as if 
that motion gave them an advantage. It struck me, 
that this was the mode of fighting of the ancient Par- 
thians, which made them terrible in flight. Pres- 
ently after these gambols, the appearance of some 
poor countrymen with their carts put it into their 
heads to have another sport; for knowing, from the 
ill fame of the spot, that we should easily be taken 
for robbers, four of them gallopped forward, and by 
the time we reached them, one of the carters was 
opening a bag to give them something. I was, of 
course, very much displeased, and made signs to him 
not to do it. — I then told them all, as we soberly- 
pursued our course, that such kind of sport was 
punished with death in England: they said, it was 
the Persian custom. We arrived, at length, at 
Ghanikew, having rode six hours and a half without 
intermission. The Mihmander was for changing his 
40 



470 MEMOIR OF 

route continually, either from real or pretended fear. 
One of Cara Beg's men saw me at the village last 
night, and as he would probably get intelligence of 
my intended route, it was desirable to elude him. 
But, after all, we went the shortest way, through 
the midst of danger, if there was any, and a gracious 
Providence kept all mischief at a distance. Ghani- 
kew is only two parasangs from Cars, but I stopped 
there, as I saw it was more agreeable to the people, 
and besides, I wished to have a ride before breakfast. 
I was lodged in a stable-room, but very much at my 
ease, as none of the people of the village could come 
at me without passing through the house. 

"21.-^-Rode into Cars. Its appearance is quite 
European, not only at a distance, but within. The 
houses all of stone; streets with carts passing; some 
of the houses open to the street; the fort on an un- 
commonly high rock; such a burying ground I never 
saw, there must be thousands of grave stones. The 
Mihmander carried me directly to the Governor, 
who, having just finished his breakfast, was, of 
course, asleep, and could not be disturbed; but his 
head man carried me to an Armenian's house, with 
orders to live at free quarters there. The room at 
the Armenian's was an excellent one, up stairs, facing 
the street, fort, and river, with a bow containing five 
windows, under which were cushions. As soon as 
the Pacha was visible, the chief Armenian of Cars, 
to whom I had a letter from Bishop Nestus, his re 
rat-ion. waited upon him on my business. — On looking 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 471 

©ver my letters of recommendation from Sir Gore 
Ouseley, I found there was none for Abdalla, the 
Pacha of Cars; however, the letter to the Governor 
of Erivan secured all I wanted. He sent to say I 
was welcome; that if I liked to stay a few days, he 
should be happy; but if I was determined to go to- 
morrow, the necessary horses, and ten men for a 
guard, were all ready. As no wish was expressed 
of seeing me, I was of course silent on that subject. 
"22. — Promises were made that every thing 
should be ready at sunrise, but it was half-past 
nine before we started, and no guard present but 
the Tartar. He presently began to shew his 
nature, by flogging the baggage-horse with his 
long whip, as one who was not disposed to allow 
loitering; but one of the poor beasts presently fell 
with his load at full length, over a piece of timber 
lying in the road. While this was setting to rights, 
the people gathered about me, and seemed more 
engaged with my Russian boots than with -any 
other part of my dress. We moved south-west, 
and after five hours and a half reached Joula. The 
Tartar rode, and got the coffee-room, at the post- 
house, ready. This coffee-room has one side raised 
and covered with cushions, and on the opposite side 
cushions on the ground; the rest of the room was 
left with bare stones and timbers. As the wind 
blew very cold yesterday, and I caught cold, the 
Tartar ordered a great fire to be made. In this 
room I should have been very much to my satis- 



472 MEMOIR OF 

faction, had not the Tartar taken part of the same 
bench; and many other people made use of it as a 
public room. They were continually consulting my 
watch, to know how near the hour of eating ap- 
proached. It was evident that the Tartar was the 
great man here: the best place he took for himself; 
a dinner of four or five dishes was laid before him. 
When I asked for eggs, they brought me rotten 
ones; for butter they brought me ghee. The idle 
people of the village came all night, and smoked 
till morning. It was very cold, there being a hoar 
frost. 

"23. — Our way, to-day, lay through a forest of 
firs; and the variety of prospect it afforded, of hill 
and dale, wood and lawn, was beautiful and romantic. 
No mark of human workmanship was any where 
visible for miles, except where some trees had fallen 
by the stroke of the woodman. We saw, at last, a 
few huts in the thickest clumps, and that was all we 
saw of the Curd's, for fear of whom I was attended 
by ten armed horsemen. We frightened a com- 
pany of villagers again to-day. They were bringing 
wood and grass from the forest, and on seeing us, 
drew up. One of our party advanced and fired: 
such a rash piece of sport I thought must have been 
followed by serious mischief, but all passed off very 
well. With the forest I was delighted; the clear 
streams in the valleys, the lofty trees crowning the 
summit of the hills, the smooth paths winding away 
and losing themselves in the dark woods, and, 



REV. ftENRY MARTYN. 473 

above all, the solitude that reigned, composed a 
scene that tended to harmonize and solemnize the 
mind. What displays of taste and magnificence are 
there occasionally on this ruined earth! Nothing 
was wanting to-day but the absence of the Turks, 
to avoid the sight and sound of whom I rode on. — 
After a ride of nine hours and a half, we reached 
Mijingud, in the territory of Erzerum; and resolved 
not to be annoyed in the same way as last night, I 
left the Tartar in the undisturbed possession of the 
post-house, and took up my quarters at an Arme- 
nian's, where, in the stable-room, I expected to be 
left alone; but a Georgian young man, on his way 
from Ech-Miazin, going on a pilgrimage to Moosk, 
where John the Baptist is supposed to be buried, 
presuming on his assiduous attentions to me, con- 
trived to get a place for himself in the same room. 
"24. — A long and sultry march, over many a hill 
and vale. In the way, two hours from the last 
stage, is a hot spring: the water fills a pool, having 
four porches. The porches instantly reminded me 
of Bethesda's pool: they were semicircular arches, 
about six feet deep, intended seemingly for shelter 
from the sun. In them all my party undressed and 
bathed. The Tartar, to enjoy himself more per- 
fectly, had his calean to smoke while up to his chin 
in water. We saw nothing else on the road to-day, 
but a large and opulent family of Armenians, men, 
women, and children, in carts and carriages, return- 
ing from a pilgrimage to Moosk. After eleven 
# 40 



474 MEMOIR OF 

hours and a half, including the hour spent at the 
warm spring, we were overtaken by the dusk; so 
the Tartar brought us to Oghoomra, where I was 
placed in an Armenian's stable-room. 

"25. — Went round to Husur-Quila, where we 
changed horses. I was surprised to see so strong a 
fort and large a town. From thence we were five 
hours and a half to the entrance of Erzerum. All 
was busy and moving in the streets, shops, artifi- 
cers, &c. crowds passing along. Those who caught 
a sight of us, were at a loss to define me. My Per- 
sian attendants, and the lower part of my dress, 
made me Persian; but the rest of the dress was 
new, for those only who had travelled, knew it to be 
European. They were not disposed, I thought, to 
be civil; but the two persons who preceded us 
kept all in order. I felt myself in a Turkish town: 
the red cap, and stateliness, and rich dress, and 
variety of turbans, was realized as I had seen it in 
pictures. There are here four thousand Armenian 
families, and but one Church: there are scarcely any 
Catholics, and they have no Church. 

"29. — Left Erzerum, with a Tartar and his son, 
at two in the afternoon. We moved to a village, 
where I was attacked with fever and ague: the 
Tartar's son was also taken ill, and obliged to re- 
turn. 

"30. — Travelled first to Ashgula where we 
changed horses, and from thence to Purnugaban, 
where we halted for the night. I took nothing all 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 475 

day but tea, and was rather better, but headache 
and loss of appetite depressed my spirits; yet my 
soul rests in him who is an anchor of the soul, sure and 
stedfast, which, though not seen, keeps me fast. 

"October I. — Marched over a mountainous tract: 
we were out from seven in the morning till eight 
at night. After sitting a little by the fire, I was 
near fainting from sickness. My depression of 
spirits led me to the throne of grace, as a sinful, 
abject worm. When I thought of myself and my 
transgressions, I could find no text so cheering as, 
'My ways are not as your ways.' By the men who 
accompanied Sir William Ouseley to Constantinople, 
I learned that the plague was raging at Constanti- 
nople, and thousands dying every day. One of the 
Persians had died of it. They added, that the 
inhabitants of Tocat were flying from their town 
from the same cause. Thus I am passing inevitably 
into imminent danger. O Lord, thy will be done! 
Living or dying, remember me! 

"2. — Some hours before day, sent to tell the 
Tartar I was ready;, but Hasan Aga was for once 
rivetted to his bed. However, at eight, having got 
strong horses, he set off at a great rate, and over 
the level ground he made us gallop as fast as the 
horses would go, to Chiflick, where we arrived at 
sunset. I was lodged, at my request, in the stable 
of the post-house, not liking the scrutinizing impu- 
dence of the fellows who frequent the coffee-room. 
As soon as it began to grow a little cold, the ague 



476 MEMOIR OF 

came on, and then the fever; after which I had a 
sleep, that let me know too plainly the disorder of 
my frame. In the night, Hasan sent to summon me 
away, but I was quite unable to move. Finding me 
still in bed at the dawn, he began to storm furiously 
at my detaining him so long; but I quietly let him 
spend his ire, ate my breakfast composedly, and set 
out at eight. He seemed determined to make up 
for the delay, for we flew over hill and vale to 
Sherean, where he changed horses. From thence 
we travelled all the rest of the day and all night; it 
rained most of the time. Soon after sunset the 
ague came on again, which, in my wet state, was 
very trying; I hardly knew how to keep my life in 
me. About that time there was a village at hand — 
but Hasan had no mercy. At one in the morning, 
we found two men under a wain, with a good fire; 
they could not keep the rain out, but their fire was 
acceptable. I dried my lower extremities, allayed 
the fever by drinking a good deal of water, and 
went on. We had little rain, but the night was 
pitchy dark, so that I could not see where the road 
was under my horse's i'eet However, God being 
mercifully pleased to alleviate my bodily sufferings, 
I went on contentedly to the munzil, where we ar- 
rived at break of day.— After sleeping three or 
four hours, I was visited by an Armenian merchant, 
for whom I had a letter. Hasan was in great fear 
of being arrested here: the Governor of the city 
had vowed to make an example of him, for riding to 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 477 

death a horse belonging to a man of this place. He 
begged that I would shelter him, in case of danger; 
his being claimed by an Englishman, he said, would 
be a sufficient security. I found, however, that I 
had no occasion to interfere. He hurried me away 
from this place without delay, and galiopped furi- 
ously towards a village, which, he said, was four 
hours distance, which was all I could undertake in 
my present weak state; but village after village did 
he pass, till night coming on, and no signs of anoth- 
er, I suspected that he was carrying me on to the 
munzil; so I got off my horse, and sat upon the 
ground, and told him, 'I neither could nor would go 
any further.' He stormed, but I was immoveable, 
till a light appearing at a distance, I mounted my 
horse, and made towards it, leaving him to follow, 
or not, as he pleased. He brought in the party, 
but would not exert himself to get a place for me. 
They brought me to an open verandah, but Sergius 
told them I wanted a place in which to be alone. 
This seemed very offensive to them; 'And why 
must he be alone?' they asked; ascribing this desire 
of mine to pride, I suppose. Tempted at last, by 
money, they brought me to a stable-room, and Hasan 
and a number of others planted themselves there 
with me. My fever here increased to a violent 
degree; the heat in my eyes and forehead was so 
great, that the fire almost made me frantic. I en- 
treated that it might be put ouf, or that I might be 
carried out of doors. Neither was attended to: my 



478 



MEMOIR OF 



servant, who, from my sitting in that strange way 
on the ground, believed me delirious, was deaf to 
all I said. At last I pushed my head in among the 
luggage, and lodged it on the damp ground, and 
slept. 

"5. — Preserving mercy made me see the light of 
another morning. The sleep had refreshed me, 
but I was feeble and shaken; yet the merciless 
Hasan hurried me off. The munzil, however, being 
not distant, I reached it without much difficulty. I 
expected to have found it another strong fort at the 
end of the pass, but it is a poor little village, within 
the jaws of the mountains. I was pretty well 
lodged, and tolerably well till a little after sunset, 
when the ague came on with a violence I never be- 
fore experienced. I felt as if in a palsy, my teeth 
chattering, and my whole frame violently shaken. 
Aga Hosyn and another Persian, on their way here 
from Constantinople, going to Abbas Mirza, whom I 
had just before been visiting, came hastily to render 
me assistance if they could. These Persians appear 
quite brotherly, after the Turks. While they 
pitied, Hasan sat with perfect indifference ruminating 
on the further delay this was likely to occasion. 
The cold fit, after continuing two or three hours, was 
followed by a fever, which lasted the whole night, 
and prevented sleep. 

«6. — No horses being to be had, I had an unex- 
pected repose. I sat in the orchard, and thought, 
with sweet comfort and peace, of my God; in soli- 



REV. HENRY MARTYR 479 

tude — my company, my friend, and comforter. O! 
when shall time give place to Eternity! When shall 
appear that new heaven and new earth wherein 
dwelleth righteousness! There — there shall in no 
wise enter in any thing that defileth: none of that 
wickedness that has made men worse than wild 
beasts— none of those corruptions that add still 
more to the miseries of mortality, shall be seen or 
heard of any more." 

Scarcely had Mr. Martyn breathed these aspira- 
tions after that state of blissful purity, for which he 
had attained such a measure of meetness, when he 
was called to exchange a condition of pain, weakness, 
and suffering, for that everlasting "rest which re- 
maineth for the people of God.'' At Tocat, on the 
3 6th of October, 1812, either falling a sacrifice to 
the plague, which then raged there, or sinking under 
that disorder, which, when he penned his last words 
had so greatly reduced him, he surrendered his soul 
into the hands of his Redeemer. 

The peculiar circumstances, as well as the par- 
ticular period, of his death, could not fail of greatly 
aggravating the affliction of those friends who,- 
amidst anxious hopes and fears, were expecting his 
arrival, either in India or England. He had not 
completed the thirty-second year of a life of emi- 
nent activity and usefulness, and he died whilst 
hastening towards his native country, that having 
there repaired his shattered health, he might again 
devote it to the glory of Christ, amongst the nations 



480 MEMOIR OF 

of the East. There was something, also, deeply 
affecting in the consideration, that where he sunk 
into his grave, men were strangers to him and to his 
God. No friendly hand was stretched out — no sym- 
pathising voice heard at that time, when the tender 
offices of Christian affection are so soothing and so 
delightful — no human bosom was there, on which 
Mr. Martyn could recline his head in the hour of 
languishing. Paucioribus lacrymis compositus es* — 
was a sentiment to which the feelings of nature and 
friendship responded; yet the painful reflection could 
not be admitted — In novissima luce desideravere all- 
quid oculi tm.'t The Savior, doubtless, was with his 
servant in his last conflict, and he with him the instant 
it terminated. 

So richly was the mind of Mr. Martyn endowed 
by the God of Nature and of Grace, that at no period 
could his death be a subject of common lamentation 
to those who valued the interests of the Church of 
Christ. 

"He was in our hearts," observed onej of his 
friends in India, "we honored him — we loved him — 
we thanked God for him — we prayed for his longer 
continuance amongst us — we rejoiced in the good he 
was doing: — we are sadly bereaved! Where such 
fervent piety, and extensive knowledge, and vigorous 

* Thou art composed to rest with few tears: i. e. a very few cliosen friends 
afford the expressions of their sympathy in the agonies of dissolution. 

j- In the hour of death, thine eyes longed for some object on ivhich they 
might rest. 

*The Rev. Mr. Thomasoa. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 481 

understanding, and classical taste, and unwearied ap- 
plication, were all united, what might not have been 
expected? I cannot dwell upon the subject without 
feeling very sad. I stand upon the walls of Jerusa- 
lem, and see the lamentable breach that has been 
made in them— but it is the Lord — he gave, and he 
hath taken away." 

"Mr. Marty n," (remarks another* of his friends, 
in describing, more particularly his intellectual en- 
dowments,) "combined in himself certain valuable, 
but distinct qualities, seldom found together in the 
same individual. The easy triumphs of a rapid 
genius over first difficulties never left him satisfied 
with present attainments. His mind, which nat- 
urally ranged on a wide field of human knowledge 
lost nothing of depth in its expansiveness. He was 
one of those (ew persons, whose reasoning faculty 
does not suffer from their imagination, nor their 
imagination from their reasoning faculty; both, in 
him, were fully exercised, and of a very high order. 
His mathematical acquisitions, clearly left him with- 
out a rival of his own age; and yet, to have known 
only the employments of his more free and unfet- 
tered moments, would have led to the conclusion, 
that the Classics and poetry were his predominant 
passion." 

But these talents, excellent as they were, are 
lost in the brightness of those Christian graces, by 
which he "shone as a light in the world, holding 

* The Rev. C. J. Hoare, 

41 



482 MEMOIR OF 

forth the word of life." In his faith there was a 
singular, a childlike simplicity; great, consequently, 
was its energy, both in obeying Christ, and suffer- 
ing for his name's sake! By this, he could behold 
blossoms upon the rod, when it was apparently 
dead; and in those events which, like the captain of 
the Lord's host seen by Joshua, presented at first a 
hostile aspect — he could discern a favorable and a 
friendly countenance. Having, listened to that ten- 
der and overwhelming interrogation of his Savior, 
"Lovest thou Me?" his love was fervently exercised 
towards God and man, at all times, and in all places! 
For it was not like the land-spring, which runs vio- 
lently for a season, and then ceases; it resembled 
the fountain which flows with a perennial stream 
from the recesses of the rock. His fear of God, 
and tenderness of conscience, and watchfulness over 
his own heart, could scarcely be surpassed in this 
state of sinful infirmity. But it was his humility 
that was most remarkable: it might be considered 
as the warp of which the entire texture of his piety 
was composed; and with this his other Christian 
graces were so intimately blended, as to beautify 
and adorn his whole demeanor. It was, in truth, 
the accordance and consent of various Christian at- 
tainments in Mr. Martyn, which were so striking. 
The symmetry of his stature in Christ was as sur- 
prising as its height. That communion which he 
held with his God, and which caused his face to 
shine, was ever tempered, like the Patriarch's of 



REV. HENRY BIARTYX. 483 

old, with the most awful reverence. The nearer 
the access with which he was favored, the more 
deeply did he feel that he was but "sinful dust and 
ashes." No discordance could be discovered be- 
tween peace and penitence: no opposition betw r een 
joy in God, and utter abasement before him: and, 
truly, in this, as in every other respect, he had 
thoroughly imbibed the spirit of his own Church, 
which, in the midst of one of her sublimest hymns 
of praise, would have her members prostrate them- 
selves before their Redeemer in these words of 
humiliation, "Thou that takest away the sins of the 
w 7 orld, have mercy upon us." 

To be zealous without love, or to have that 
which is miscalled Chanty, without decision of char- 
acter, is neither difficult nor uncommon. Mr. Mar- 
tyn's zeal was tempered with love, and his love in- 
vigorated by zeal. He combined, also, ardor with 
prudence — gravity with cheerfulness — abstraction 
from the world with an enjoyment of its lawful 
gratifications. His extreme tenderness of con- 
science was devoid of scrupulosity; his activity in 
good works, was joined to habits of serious contem- 
plation; his religious affections, which were highly 
spiritualized, exceeded not the limits of the most 
cautious sobriety, and were so far from impairing 
his natural affections, that they raised and purified 
them. 

Many sincere servants of Christ labor to attain 
heaven, but possess not any joyful hope of reaching 



484 



MEMOIR OF 



it; many vain hypocrites are confident of their sal- 
vation, without striving to enter in at the strait 
gate. With the Apostle, Mr. Martyn could say, 
"We are always confident, ivherefore we labor." 
Together with an assurance of his final and ever- 
lasting felicity, he had a dread of declension, and a 
fear of "losing the things he had wrought." He 
knew that the way to heaven was narrow, from the 
entrance to the end of it; but he was persuaded 
that Christ was with him, walking in the way, and 
that he would never leave him nor forsake him. 

As these extraordinary, and seemingly contra- 
dictory qualities, were not imparted to him but by 
the Spirit of God, so they were not strengthened 
and matured but in the diligent use of the ordinary 
means of grace. Prayer and the holy Scriptures 
were those wells of salvation, out of which he drew 
daily the living water. Truly did he "pray always, 
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and 
watch thereunto with all perseverance:" being 
"transformed by the renewing of his mind," he was 
also ever "proving what was that good and accept- 
able and perfect will of God." 

The Sabbath, that sacred portion of time, set 
apart for holy purposes in Paradise itself, was so 
employed by him, as to prove frequently a Paradise 
to his soul on earth, and as certainly prepared him 
for an endless state of spiritual enjoyment hereafter. 

By "daily weighing the Scriptures," with prayer, 
he "waxed riper and riper in his Ministry," in the 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 



485 



execution of which divine office there was in him 
an astonishing determination of soul for the glory of 
his Savior, who, "allowed him to be put in trust 
with the Gospel. Of the exceeding privileges of 
his holy function, and of its awful responsibility, he 
had the most vivid impressions; and such was his 
jealousy of omitting any duty connected with it, that 
he deemed the work of translating the Scriptures 
themselves, no justifiable plea for inattention to any 
of its more immediate and direct engagements. — 
Reviewing frequently his Ordination vows, in that 
affecting service in which they were originally made, 
he became more and more anxious to promote the 
honor of his Redeemer by preaching his Gospel. 
This, indeed, was the great end for which existence 
seemed desirable in his eyes; to effect which much 
time did he spend in preparing his discourses for 
the pulpit, investigating the subject before him with 
profound meditation, and perpetual supplication to 
the Father of Lights. Utilis lectio* — utilis eruditio 
— sed magis unctio necessaria, quippe quce docet de 
omnibtis~\ — were the sentiments of his heart. — ■ 
When, therefore, he stood up and addressed men 
on the entire depravity of man — on the justification 
of the soul by faith only, in Jesus Christ — on the 
regenerating and progressively sanctifying influences 
of the Spirit — when, "knowing the terrors of the 

*St. Bernard. 

■\Readi7ig is useful— learning valuable— but unction, for divine teach- 
ing, J is more neeessary, because it gives instruction on all points, 

*41 



486 MEMOIR OF 

Lord," he persuaded them to accept the offers of 
salvation — or when he besought them, by the 
mercies of God, to present their bodies to him as a 
living sacrifice — he spake "with uncorruptness — 
gravity— sincerity — with sound words that could 
not be condemned;" and none who knew their souls 
to be guilty, helpless, accountable, immortal, could 
listen to his preaching unmoved. In the delivery 
of his discourses, his natural manner was not good, 
from a defect in his enunciation; this, however, was 
more than compensated by the solemnity, affection, 
and earnestness of his address. It should be added, 
also, that as practical subjects were discussed by 
him, with constant reference to the peculiar doc- 
trines of the Gospel; so likewise all doctrinal points 
were declared practically, with a view to self-appli- 
cation, rather than disquisition. No one, as it re- 
garded all doctrine, could enter more completely 
into the spirit of those w T ords, both for himself and 
others — Malo sentire compunctionem quam scire ejus 
definitionem* 

With an intense anxiety to save souls, Mr. Mar- 
tyn had also an implicit reliance on that grace which 
alone can make men wise unto salvation. He was 
deeply conscious that "God giveth the increase;" 
and when he did not see, or thought he did not see, 
that increase, he meekly submitted to the Divine 
will, and patiently continued in well doing. At such 

* J had rather feel contrition than be able to define it. 



REV. HENRY MARTYN. 487 

times, also, more particularly would he turn, with 
joyful thankfulness, to the contemplation of the suc- 
cessful labors of his Ministerial brethren; for he had 
no mean and unholy envy respecting them; nor had 
he, what is so often allied to it, an arrogant, domi- 
neering temper towards his flock. His ambition 
was, to be a helper of their joy — he had no desire 
to have dominion over their faith. Too much had 
he of that beautiful part of a Minister's character — 
a spirit which could sympathize with the poor and 
afflicted amongst his people — to court the appella- 
tion of Rabbi, and dogmatize with the air of a Mas- 
ter in Israel. He was one of those little o?ies i of 
whom Christ affirms, that whosoever receiveth 
them, receiveth him. To no one, indeed, would he 
give occasion to despise him; but all the dignity to 
which he aspired was to be their servant, among 
whom he labored for Jesus' sake. 

"A more perfect- character," says one who bore 
the burthen and heat of the day with him in India, # 
"I never met with, nor expect to see again on earth. 
During the four years we were fellow-laborers in 
this country, I had no less than six opportunities of 
enjoying his company, and every opportunity only 
increased my love and veneration for him." 

With respect to his labors: — his own "works 
praise him in the gates," far above human commerf- 
dation. 

* The Rct. D. Come, 



488 MEMOIR OF 

By him, and by his means, part of the Liturgy 
of the Church of England, the Parables, and the 
whole of the New Testament, were translated into 
Hindoostanee — a language spoken from Delhi to 
Cape Comorin, and intelligible to many millions of 
immortal souls. By him, and by his means, also, 
the Psalms of David and the New Testament were 
rendered into Persian — the vernacular language of 
two hundred thousand who bear the Christian 
name, and known over one-fourth of the habitable 
globe. By him, also, the imposture of the Prophet 
of Mecca was daringly exposed, and the truths of 
Christianity openly vindicated, in the very heart 
and centre of a Mahometan Empire. 

If success be demanded, it is replied — that this is 
not the inquiry with him "of whom are all things,-' 
either in this world, or in that which is to come. — 
With him the question is this: "What has been 
aimed at: what has been intended in singleness of 
heart?" 

God, however, has not left Mr. Martyn without 
witness in the hearts of those who heard him in 
Europe and in Asia. Above forty adults and twenty 
children, from the Hindoos, have received Christian 
Baptism, all of whom, with the exception of a sin- 
gle individual, were converted by the instrumen- 
tality of one man, # himself the fruit of Mr. Martyn's 
ministry at Cawnpore. At Shiraz, a sensation has 

• Abdool Messee. 



REV. BENRY MARTYN. 489 

been excited, which, it is trusted, will not readily 
subside; and some Mahometans of consequence 
there, have declared their conviction of the truth of 
Christianity — a conviction which Mr. Martyn was 
the means of imparting to their minds. But when 
it is considered, that the Persian and Hindoostanee 
Scriptures are in wide and extensive circulation, 
who can ascertain the consequences which may 
have already followed, or foresee what may here- 
after accrue, from their dispersion? In this respect 
it is not perhaps too much to apply to Mr. Martyn 
those words, which once had an impious applica- 
tion:-— 

"Ex quo nunc etiam per magnos didita gentea, 
Dulcia permulcent animos solatia vitse."* 

LUCEET. 

Nor is the pattern which he has left behind him, 
to be laid out of our account, in estimating the 
effects of his holy and devoted life. He doubtless 
forsook all for Christ; he loved not his life unto the 
death. He followed the steps of Zeigenbalgt in the 
old world, and of Brainerd in the new; and whilst he 
walks with them in white, for he is worthy, he 
speaks, by his example, to us who are still on our 
warfare and pilgrimage upon earth. For surely 
as long as England shall be celebrated for that pure 
and apostolical Church, of which he was so great an 

* Even now, the sweet consolations of life, by him published through great 
nations, soothe the passions of men. 

f See Archbishop Wake's Letter. 



490 MEMOIR. 

ornament; as long as India shall prize that which is 
more precious to her than all her gems and gold; the 
name of the subject of this memoir, as a Translator 
of the Scriptures and of the Liturgy, will not 
wholly be forgotten: and whilst some shall delight 
to gaze upon the splendid sepulchre of Xavier, and 
others choose rather to ponder over the granite 
stone which covers all that is mortal of Swartz; 
there will not be wanting those who will think of 
the humble and unfrequented grave of Henry 
Martvn, and be led to imitate those works of mercy, 
which have followed him into the world of light 
and love. 



THE END. 



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